


Dangan Ronpa: Justice is Golden

by IndiSmile, RK3996



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Blood and Violence, Fan Dangan Ronpa, Fangan Ronpa, Multi, Murder Mystery, mostly OCs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-29
Updated: 2017-06-20
Packaged: 2018-10-12 17:50:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 91,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10496358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IndiSmile/pseuds/IndiSmile, https://archiveofourown.org/users/RK3996/pseuds/RK3996
Summary: An original story taking place in the Dangan Ronpa universe.Join Atsuko Oko and fifteen other contestants as they compete for their lives within the "Palace of Gold" resort and casino, overseen by the diabolical Game Master, Kinirokuma.Please enjoy the story, and remember: Justice will be served.





	1. Introductions and Examples

Chapter 1:

Um, hello. Ah, I’m not the best at introductions, so, uh, here it goes I guess. My name is Atsuko Oko. I’m seventeen years old, and I’m about to attend Hope’s Peak Academy. If you don’t know what Hope’s Peak is, well, that’s kind of weird, but okay then. 

Hope’s Peak is probably the most famous high school in Japan. Or, well, the world. It has this reputation as the single best school a person could attend if they wanted to become successful in life, and promotes this idea of cultivating super talented students, which people call Ultimates. They have a pretty stellar reputation, and getting into it is pretty much a guaranteed track to a perfect career. So, well, you can imagine why I was pretty excited to get in. Even if I don’t think I really deserved to.

My “talent” isn’t exactly the best or most standout one in the world. I’m the “Ultimate Student”. No other adjectives, just the “Ultimate Student”. Apparently the best possible student that they could’ve had in the year or something. Sure, I’m a straight A student who has won a couple dozen academic competitions, but being called the “Ultimate Student” feels arrogant. And I really don’t like looking arrogant.

I don’t really like standing out at all. In fact, I take pains to avoid standing out. I keep my hair dark, I dress conservatively, I cover up-...Anyway. Those parts aren’t important. I’m honestly pretty nervous about going to a prestigious academy like Hope’s Peak, but I might be able to make it fine. I just need to keep being clever and careful, and I’ll probably be able to avoid too much trouble. Still though, the prospect of going to Hope’s Peak Academy was...daunting.

I took a deep breath to steady myself as I looked up at the huge building, a couple students walking past me to whatever entrance ceremony there was supposed to be. Well, it was now or never. I took a few steps forward and everything went **black.**

\---:)---

It was dark. Way too dark. Why was it so dark? Something wasn’t right, there was something-

“Ow! Ow, ow, ah…” I groaned loudly as my eyes slowly opened, still heavy with sleep. I could feel carpet on the back of my head, and my legs were tangled in my blankets. 

I groaned again, rubbing my aching head. Opening my eyes, I glanced around in a daze as I slowly realized that I had fallen out of my bed. 

“...I should have known I was dreaming.” Letting out a yawn, I crawled back into bed and pulled my blanket over my head. “And it was such a good dr-” 

Jolting up, I looked around the room as I came to the very simple realization that I was not in my bedroom. Instead, I was in what was perhaps the gaudiest, most obnoxiously loud room I’d ever been in. Gold, actual gold leaf, covered the dark red walls surrounding my queen sized bed. Over on my right was a mahogany dresser and a desk, also mahogany. Whoever owned this place really loved looking rich...

“W-wha…” I stammered, staring around the room in complete confusion. Slowly getting out of bed, I realized that I was still mostly in my school uniform. My shoes were set down by the bed, and my dark blue blazer was resting on the chair by the desk. Which was also apparently mahogany. “What the...Where am I…?” 

I looked around the room again, trying to figure out where I was. As far as I could tell, it was a normal room, if way too ostentatious for my tastes. There were even two doors on opposite ends of the room, facing each other. Both were very ornately decorated, to the point that there were actual jewels in the wood. Which I sincerely hoped wasn’t mahogany.

“Those...those can’t be real. Can they?” I questioned to myself, before looking up at a little camera set in the far right corner of the room. “Uh, hello? Um, I don’t think I’m supposed to be here. Could someone come get me? Please?”

Grinning awkwardly, I waved at the camera, before feeling like an idiot for expecting a response.

“...Ha ha...okay, sure, this is funny but I think the joke is a going on a bit too long. Am, uh...Am I at Hope’s Peak? The Academy? The, uh, famous one? ...If no one says anything, I’m going to start looking around, okay?”

Hearing no response from the camera, I made my way to the door on the right, looking up at the blinking light on the camera every so often. Gripping the doorknob, I slowly opened the door to reveal a huge, sparkling clean bathroom, just as gaudy as the rest of the room. 

The bathtub seemed to be made of marble, as did the toilet, and the shower head and sink were both gold. A mirror framed in gold was situated right over the sink, and I scowled at my reflection as I noticed my freckles were showing again.

“I’m going to guess my makeup didn’t make the trip with me,” I muttered, before looking curiously at the mirror. “I wonder…”

Heading over to the mirror, I opened it up, revealing a small cabinet containing soap, shampoo, a razor, black hair dye and some makeup. Including concealer. In my exact skin tone. ...Well, beggars can’t be choosers.

It probably wasn’t the best idea, but I took some time to put on the makeup, ensuring my annoying freckles were concealed once more. Once I checked myself out again, making sure my roots weren’t showing and such, I headed out of the bathroom, closing the door and turning to face the only other door in the room. 

Taking a deep breath, I began to walk towards the remaining door. As I approached, I now noticed a piece of paper taped to it. ‘Come to the lounge at the end of the hall as soon as you wake up. None of the other doors will open, so be quick about it.’ Signed at the bottom was some weird, jagged symbol. It looked like some kind of open wound...or like the letter’s writer had a really weird way of writing M’s.

I rolled my eyes at the note, heading back to my bed to get my shoes on and grab my blazer. Once I was properly attired once more, I reached for the doorknob and yanked it open. I was promptly greeted to a hallway, just as gaudily decorated as the room I had just left. 

On each side of the hallway were several doors, all with gold nameplate set on their rights. I crossed the hallway to the closest door, with the name “Akiba” on the nameplate, grabbed the knob and tried to twist it, ignoring what the note had said. Unfortunately, the stupid thing wouldn’t budge, so I tried knocking. After about a minute of pounding on the door, I finally received an answer. Just not from whoever was inside the room.

“Hey, whoever is making that racket, give it up already!” A male voice sounded out from down the hall. “Either there is nobody in the rooms or they are not saying anything, so you might as well join us and stop trying to break down the doors!” 

I frowned at the irritated tone the guy was yelling in, a slight accent coloring his words. Well, it wasn’t like I was getting anywhere with this plan of action, so obeying the instructions seemed prudent. I headed down the hallway, to a slightly open white door, also decorated with gold. Opening it up fully, I was greeted by the annoying familiar decoration style this whole place seemed to have.

Every thing that could’ve been made of gold seemed like it was, with all sorts of gold leaf curling around the white walls, a few closed shutters around the room breaking up the fancy designs. Every bit of furniture in the room seemed to have golden legs and frames, with the tables made of glass and the two long sofas taking up the center of the room, and the chairs set around them, were made of some white, silky fabric, giving the place a sort of heavenly aesthetic. Said chairs were also embroidered with gold. _Are we around a gold mine or something?_

“Ah, finally you-Oh. Well hello there,” the voice from earlier sounded out, going from annoyed to some kind of flirtatious. It apparently belonged to the guy reclining on one of the sofas, his shoes planted on the surface of the table right before he stood up and headed over to me. He was pretty tall, with lightly tanned skin and bright blue eyes, his blonde and red hair spiked up in complete defiance of gravity. For some reason, he was dressed in a white and blue racing jumpsuit, or whatever those were called. “My apologies, signorina, I was unaware that you were such a lovely young lady~.”

“Uh...hi,” I responded, raising an eyebrow at the weirdo. Apparently he was Italian? I tried glancing around him to look at the other people in the room, but he stepped in front of me, smiling widely.

“Buonasera, bella donna,” he spoke, taking my hand and lifting it to his lips before I yanked it back. He laughed at that, grinning. “Ah, a feisty one~. Well, it is my pleasure to meet you, lovely lady. I am Vittorio Ito! The Ultimate Racer, winner of a hundred races all throughout Italy, America, and Japan, as well as the ultimate lover~.” He waggled his eyebrows. He actually waggled his eyebrows… Which were black instead of blonde. Or red. _Guess he dyes his hair too._ “My friends call me Vito, but you may call me whatever you want~.”

“...Okay. Hello Vittorio. My name is Atsuko Oko, the Ultimate Student.” I nodded to him, keeping my expression neutral. “Pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“Ah, so cold. And yet, I love a chance to warm the heart of a lovely maiden~.”

“Are you done making an ass of yourself?” Another voice spoke up, very clearly irritated. Vittorio stiffened, before sighing and stepping to the side, trying to wrap an arm around my shoulders before I stepped away from him. Sitting on the two sofas set right across from each other were five more people, each dressed kinda weirdly.

“Ah…” He pouted, then sighed loudly again, before grinning to the other people in the room. “Alright, alright, I understand when I am being too forceful. Signorina Oko, allow me to introduce my compatriots-”

“I can introduce myself,” the person who spoke up earlier said, standing up. And wow, they were tall.

I stared as they walked up to me, a small frown on their face. They were ludicrously built, muscles bulging noticeably under their red suit, its collar open to show off their neck and the gold necklace that hung over their orange t-shirt. Short, messy red hair framed their tanned face, making their red eyes stand out, like pools of blood. A little pin with the kanji for “Tanji” situated on their lapel brought the whole ensemble together in one clear realization. _This person is a yakuza._

“Hello?” the person asked, and I stiffened, realizing I’d been staring at them in silence for at least a minute.

“A-Ah, sorry. Um, right, introductions...I-I’m Atsuko Oko. Ah, p-pleased to meet you.”

The yakuza stared at me for a second, then nodded. “I am Chinatsu Nikuya, the Ultimate Gangster. Glad to meet you.” _Oh, a girl yakuza. Well okay then. Oh, those are boobs, not pecs...I think. Should I ask?_

Before I could get myself killed, a cheerful giggle sounded out as another girl stood up and walked over while Vittorio went to sit back down. “Hee hee hee, please, do not scare our new friend too much, Chinatsu, yes?”

The smiling girl, also with a noticeable accent, was, well...really white. Like, not just in the race sense. She had tightly braided white hair, pale skin, and was wearing a white pantsuit, with white gloves, a white tie, white dress shoes, and a white hat with a white band and a white bow on the side. Honestly, if her eyes were completely white, I probably wouldn’t’ve been surprised, but they were a pale yellow color, with normal black irises. _So probably not some kind of snow demon come to eat my skin for my crimes._

“Hello!” the girl greeted, still smiling cheerfully, before bowing deeply. “I am Nina Chasseur, and it is my pleasure to be introduced to you!”

“U-Uh, h-hi?” I stared at the strange girl before realizing what I was supposed to say. “Ah, right, I’m-”

“Atsuko Oko. My ears are working quite well, thank you.” Nina giggles as she straightens up again, still smiling.

Nikuya sighed, glancing down at me again. “Please don’t mind her. She arrived here first and has been overly friendly the entire time.”

“It is only right to be polite while in a foreign country, yes?” Nina responded, grinning up fearlessly at Nikuya. “Ah, I almost forgot, I am the Ultimate Hunter!”

“...The Ultimate Hunter?” _This cute girl is a hunter? ...This cute girl is the **Ultimate** Hunter?!_

“Yep! I have been hunting all over the world since I was very small. My family is quite famous in my home country for our skills at tracking down and hunting the most impressive and fearsome creatures we could find!”

I stared blankly at her, my mouth moving without my input. “Oh? Where are you from?”

“I am from Suisse! Or Switzerland, as I think you call my home. My first home, I mean. I have been all over the world, so I feel at home wherever I travel.” She smiles even more brightly at that, before leaning forward, like she was about to tell me a secret. “This is actually my fifteenth time in Japan, but it will probably be the longest I will be staying here.”

“Ah. Right. Because you’re attending Hope’s Peak, right?” Seeing Nina nod, I nodded too, looking around. “So is this Hope’s Peak Academy?”

“I doubt it,” Nikuya answered suddenly, rubbing her head as she stared at the ceiling. “Pretty sure we would’ve had a nice, normal entrance ceremony if that was the case. But instead we’re drugged and wake up in some fancy looking rooms. Kinda weird for a high school, don’t you think?”

“Well, Hope’s Peak isn’t an ordinary high school,” a new voice spoke up, drawing Nikuya and Nina’s gazes towards them. The new person standing up was another guy. I think. They had a deep voice.

The new guy was wearing a light green kimono with pink flower petals patterned across its surface, dyeing the sleeves a bright pink, and had dark green hair that flowed down to his shoulders. He seemed to be smiling, but it was hard to tell with the surgical mask covering his mouth and nose. His jade eyes were creased upward though, I think. Again, it was hard to tell because his bangs were hanging over his eyes.

“In fact, it is well known for being a prestigious academy for the unusually gifted,” he continued in his slightly muffled voice, “So wouldn’t it make sense for them to have some sort of test or selection process to weed out the unfitting?”

“...That sounds like something out of a manga.” Nikuya and Nina were staring at me, a curious look on the yakuza’s face while Nina was smiling wider. _Wait, did I say that outloud?_

“Hmph.” The new guy seemed to be frowning at me. “And yet, what other explanation could their be? If this is Hope’s Peak-”

“It’s not,” another new person spoke up, their voice soft and tired. I glanced around Nikuya to try to get a look at them, and saw another girl sitting on one sofa. A big witch hat rested on her long, green hair, a long black cloak covering most of her body while a staff with a black crystal ball on top rested against her shoulder. She noticed me staring, her pretty violet eyes meeting mine, before she grinned and pointed across from her. _Oh._

Looking around the other side of Nikuya, I saw the actual speaker, a rather pale and tired looking girl with pale blonde hair, which seemed weirdly gray and black around the tips. She was dressed in a black t-shirt and a dark red skirt, a pair of goggles hanging around her neck. Her orange eyes were focused intently on the steel gray lighter she was holding, her thumb flicking against its trigger as she seemed to be trying to get it to turn on. She also didn’t have eyebrows. Either they were pale enough not to show in this light or it was a very good thing she was having trouble with that lighter...

After a minute of silence, she seemed to realize we were waiting for her to continue. “Ah. Right. I took a tour with my mom. Didn’t look like this at all. Was only last month, so they probably didn’t change things. Ah, and I’m Kimiko Bakudan. Pyrotechnist. Ah, Ultimate Pyrotechnist. Means I work with fireworks and stuff.” She went back to flicking at her lighter, before looking up at the green guy. “Your turn Tadashi.”

Green guy sighed, rolling his eyes, before looking back at me. “Right then. I am Tadashi Ageru, the Ultimate Apothecary, maker of medicines. It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Oko.”

“Uh, nice to meet you too,” I replied, nodding to him. He sat back down, looking over at Kimiko, before taking her lighter and flicking it on, then returning it to her. The pyrotechnist immediately grinned cheerfully, seeming to come to life as she suddenly sat up straighter and smiled at me.

“Glad to have you with us! And thanks Dashi!” “Please use my full first name…”

“Ah.” I nodded again, a bit unconsciously as I looked back at the last person, the witch immediately standing up with a huge grin. I couldn’t help but notice that Vittorio, sitting next to her, immediately inched away, while Nikuya and Nina took some steps back, leaving no one between me and the beaming green-haired girl.

“Oh please no…” Tadashi muttered, deliberately putting an even happier looking Kimiko between him and the last girl.

“SALUTATIONS!” The witch girl yelled out, beaming widely as the orb on her staff suddenly turned orange.

“U-Uh, s-signorina Goldfield, perhaps-” Vittorio tried to speak up, to no avail.

“I AM THE ILLUSTRIOUS CRAFTER OF CALAMITIES, THE MYSTICAL MAGISTRATE OF MALEBOLGE, THE INCANDESCENT ICON OF ALL THINGS OCCULT! I AM THE ULTIMATE MAGE, _BEATRICE GOLDFIELD_ , MASTER OF MAGIC!” the girl continued announcing, twirling her staff around in her hand, before pointing it at the ceiling, which I only now noticed was littered with scorch marks. Beaming widely, the ‘master of magic’ slammed the end of her staff against the floor, a plume of fire erupting from the orb to blast against the ceiling before subsiding, leaving an even bigger black spot across its surface.

Kimiko and Nina immediately started applauding, the pyrotechnist cheering loudly while the hunter clapped politely, the other people in the room looking either exhausted and annoyed or very clearly nervous. I myself just stared blankly before starting to clap, Beatrice promptly taking a performer’s bow at the sound of my applause. Straightening up, Beatrice smiled at me, though...her eyes didn’t match. Her mouth was smiling, but she looked a bit tired. Though she immediately started looking more cheerful when she noticed me staring.

“Heh heh. How did you like my introduction, Madam Oko?” _...Madam?_

“Uh. Well, it was really impressive,” I answered, a bit unsure. Did she really look tired there? Was I imagining things? “...Maybe you shouldn’t try to burn holes in the ceiling though?”

“Ha! You say that, but I think it adds character to this room. A few scars to make it look less perfect, you know?”

“Did you really need to use that much fire though?” Tadashi asked, looking calmer now that Beatrice wasn’t throwing flames at the ceiling.

“Ah, but we just got our last companion! Why shouldn’t I be cheerful?”

“Last companion?” I asked, looking around at the other people in the room as they started settling back down on the couches, leaving me and Beatrice standing up. And as the centers of attention. _Which she probably likes, considering that display…_

“Yup!” she replied, letting the staff rest against her shoulder again. “There’s seven people here now, and seven is a magical number. The number of luck, of sins, of virtues, of all sorts of things, you know?” _I thought eight was supposed to be lucky?_ “So, clearly you’ll be the last person to enter.”

“Heh. I am perfectly fine with that then,” Vittorio spoke up, seemingly regaining his confidence, “After all, here I am, surrounded by lovely women~.”

“Uh…” Tadashi raised an eyebrow at the racer.

“Fine, fine. Five lovely women, my fantastic self, and another, admittedly pretty, guy,” Vittorio continued, ignoring Tadashi’s indignant squawk, “Still, it is a nice split. I get three, you get two?”

“W-Wait, what?” Tadashi started to stammer while the other girls in the room stared at Vittorio, all of us looking distinctly unimpressed with the grinning racer, before the door behind me suddenly opened, a pale guy dressed like a doctor, complete with white coat and stethoscope over his neck, entered the room and stopped, the door slightly between him and us as we all stared at him and he stared back.

“...Um. Hello,” the guy raised a hand, waving nervously, his dark brown eyes glancing around before settling on me, an awkward smile on his face. He chuckled nervously, running a hand through his messy white hair, before he entered the room fully, closing the door behind him. He looked around again, flinching as he noticed the annoyed look Beatrice was sporting, before he looked at me again, apparently deciding I was the most normal person here. “Ah...is this, um...am I at Hope’s Peak Academy?”

I sighed, before taking pity on the guy and walking over to him. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” I stated, smiling and holding my hand out to him. “My name’s Atsuko Oko, I’m the Ultimate Student. Nice to meet you.”

\---:---

The new guy was Kiru Arai, the Ultimate Surgeon, and by no means the last person we would be introduced to by the end of the day, to Beatrice’s increasing annoyance. Which she seemed to blame Kiru for, based on how she kept scowling at him, the poor guy being unfortunate enough to sit almost right across from her on the other sofa. Even worse, he was right next to Kimiko, who seemed more than happy to start chatting with him about the types of fireworks she liked using, a lecture that restarted every time somebody new entered and she got sidetracked. At least Tadashi was amused by the whole thing. I think.

Anyways, the next person to arrive was a new girl, much to Vittorio’s pleasure.

“Oh, hello there,” she said upon entering, fidgeting slightly as she looked around the room. “This is the lounge I’m supposed to go to, right?”

At our affirmative, she introduced herself as: “Kinute Sado. I’m the Ultimate Masseuse. I don’t do free massages, so please don’t ask.”

Kinute, a nervous looking girl with long, tangled grey hair and silver eyes that darted all around the room, was wearing a very long coat that seemed to have been made for someone several sizes bigger than her, its sleeves dangling to cover her hands. It hung a bit loosely on her shoulders, remaining open to reveal that she was also wearing a white button up shirt, a kind of cute violet bow tie, and long billowing skirt which reached all the way down to her ankles. 

While everybody I had met beforehand seemed unusually confident despite the odd situation, Kinute was more like Kiru in her blatant nervousness, though hers seemed even worse. Even as she sat down on the far end of the couch, she was noticeably fidgeting and visibly shying away from everybody else. Weirdly enough though, she actually seemed more...annoyed than scared, even though she was practically shaking like a leaf.

Of course, Vittorio didn’t help at all.

“Ha hah, it is my pleasure to meet you, Signorina Sado,” he started, grinning as he introduced himself to her. And then he went and ignored her earlier request. “Now that formalities are out of the way, perhaps you and I could get a room together? You could show me just how skilled those hands of yours are~.”

The death glare she sent him could’ve driven a lesser man into a heart attack, and yet, Vito was undeterred. He actually seemed even more interested...

Thankfully for Kinute, Vito’s attention was soon drawn away as another woman entered. I swear, you could hear his jaw drop as she strode in. The tall, platinum blonde woman seemed to exude a professional aura, her hair tied back in a tight ponytail and her vibrant green eyes hidden behind black horn-rimmed glasses. Dressed in a velvet red jacket and a matching business skirt, along with nylon stockings that clung tightly to her long legs and red heels that added at least another inch of height, she seemed to completely steal the awestruck Italian’s breath away.

“Hm,” she hummed as she looked carefully at each of us, examining us like we were specimens under a microscope. I really hoped I wasn’t blushing as she sized me up.

“I am Miyabi Shitateya, the Ultimate Seamstress,” she introduced herself. “Please treat me with kindness.” _Oh, she’s a seamstress. So she was probably looking at my clothes, not my boobs...Right?_

Miyabi took her seat soon after her introduction, crossing her legs and promptly ignoring Vito’s attempts at flirting. “A-Ah, hello-ah, ahem. Perdoname, I, uh, un momento per favore.” He smiled awkwardly, trying to regain his composure as Kinute frowned suspiciously at Miyabi.

Luckily for Vito, the next person to enter was another cute girl, this one exuding nervousness instead of confidence. A rather meek looking girl with brown hair and brown eyes, also hidden by glasses, she was wearing a clean black pantsuit and was clutching a black briefcase to her chest like a teddy bear. Her nervous eyes darted around, looking at each of us, before they suddenly seemed to freeze on Chinatsu, who suddenly straightened up in her seat, glaring at the smaller girl. Who...was glaring right back, her eyes completely cold, before they suddenly looked terrified, a little squeak of fear slipping from her lips as she clutched her briefcase tighter.

Of course, that got almost everybody with clear concern, or at least a little less apathy, except Chinatsu, who kept glaring at her, though she did lean back in her seat. 

“Are you feeling alright?” Kiru suddenly asked, concerned for the plainly terrified girl. _And she is terrified, right? She looks really scared...But what did I see earlier then?_

“A-Ah, I-I’m...I-I-I’m really sorry, I-I just, um…” the new girl stammered, staring nervously at Chinatsu. “Sh-She, um...s-s-startled me.”

“She certainly did,” Nina spoke up, smiling at Chinatsu as she frowned back at her. “Now why is that, my friend? What has this little girl done to you?”

“...Nothing in particular,” Chinatsu replied, staring forward and ignoring the curious looks she was getting.

“Right, well, anyway,” Tadashi spoke up, looking at the new girl. “Would you like to introduce yourself? I’m Tadashi Ageru, the Ultimate Apothecary. And you are?”

“U-Um...I-I-I’m F-Fuyumi Raito, th-the Ultimate Lawyer,” she finally introduced herself, squirming under our gazes.

“Ooo, interesting,” Nina said, giggling at Chinatsu. “Somebody is not a fan of lawyers?”

“Just certain lawyers,” she replied, glaring at Fuyumi again as the girl took her seat. Notably, she didn’t need to speak to the lawyer as we started introducing ourselves to her.

“Sooo, Signorina Raito, how available are you for some...legal discussions late-” Vito’s sad attempt at flirting was cut off as the next person entered. Even worse for him, the new person was another guy. Who honestly looked like he wandered in from 1890s America, at least in terms of attire.

The man was wearing tan slacks and a brown vest over a white button up shirt and a blue tie, a camera hanging around his neck and resting on his chest. He also had a satchel over his shoulder and a newsboy cap resting on his light brown hair. His hazel eyes scanned each of us, using a pen to scribble something on the notepad in his hand.

We all sat in a silence for a bit, glancing at each other awkwardly, before Tadashi finally decided to speak up again, the rest of us apparently deciding that he was our spokesman. “Um, hello there. Would you like to introduce yourself?”

“You first,” was his immediate reply.

“...Okay then.” Tadashi raised an eyebrow at the guy’s attitude, before starting off yet another round of introductions. When we were finally done with introducing ourselves again, the man nodded, closing his notepad and putting it in his satchel.

“My name is Nobu Konto,” he said, “I am the Ultimate Journalist.” 

Introductions done, he headed to the far end of the sofa, his dress shoes clacking against the floor as he walked, and took a seat directly opposite of Kinute. He then reached into his bag and took out a stick of gum. Popping it into his mouth, he sat back and waited, apparently intent on not talking to any of us.

From there, we kind of lapsed into a really awkward silence. Like, the kind that nobody wants to speak up in because they know it’s going to get everyone looking at them. So it came as a relief when the next person walked in, Kiru actually muttering “Oh thank god.” Though the feeling of relief didn’t last when we actually noticed what the guy looked like.

Standing as tall as Chinatsu, but lanky instead of muscular, the guy had curly blue hair that drooped down over his face, covering one of his indigo eyes, and was dressed in a black school uniform, though his jacket was tied around his waist. That wasn’t the weird part though. The weird part was that the guy was practically covered in electronics, devices attached to his belt and in his pockets, wires stretching up over his body. He even seemed to have a keyboard or something attached to his arm with a glove. 

Grinning smugly at us, he tapped rapidly on the keyboard, a voice suddenly echoing out from one of the devices on his belt. [WELL HELLO THERE EVERYBODY. WHY SO QUIET?]

We all stared at him, before staring at Tadashi again, Nobu and Fuyumi apparently getting the memo about his spokesmanship. The apothecary stared blankly back at us, before sighing.

“Right. Hello there, I’m Tadashi Ageru, the Ultimate Apothecary. Who are you and what is your talent?”

[AH, STRAIGHT AND TO THE POINT. I LIKE IT.] he...spoke? Typed? [I AM AKIBA. THAT’S MY HANDLE, AND NO, YOU’RE NOT GETTING MY QUOTE REAL NAME UNQUOTE. I AM THE ULTIMATE TECHNICIAN, THOUGH CALLING ME THE ULTIMATE TECHNOLOGICAL PRODIGY WOULD ALSO BE APPROPRIATE.]

It was at this point that we started to miss the silence. But, as we all started to introduce ourselves again, we did take solace in the fact that the next person who entered couldn’t be weirder than this guy.

“Well, I think you may be the last one for a while, amico, so why not take a seat?” Vito spoke up at the end of it, smiling at Akiba as he stood up.

[OH? YOU SEEM DISAPPOINTED. PERHAPS UPSET THAT I AM NOT AN ATTRACTIVE YOUNG LADY?]

“Er, what? What gave you that, ah, impression-”

[SIMPLE FACT THAT YOU WERE STARING AT THE SEAMSTRESS’S SKIRT LIKE YOU WANTED TO BURY YOURSELF IN HER CROTCH.]

Oh hey, the silence was back. Though this silence was more shocked than awkward. The earlier silence’s cousin, maybe.

As Vito stared in shock at Akiba, the technician walked past him to take a seat, smiling cheerfully at Miyabi, who simply raised an eyebrow at him. Vito furrowed his brow in confusion, quite clearly trying to think of how to respond, before noticing Akiba left the door open.

“Sconsiderato…” he muttered, heading over to the door to close it, only for it to immediately slam back open, knocking him on his ass. “GAH! Che palle!”

As Vito clutched his nose, muttering angrily in Italian, the next person stepped through the door and we all promptly realized that we were completely wrong about Akiba being the weirdest guy here.

Hell, the next guy looked like he could actually be the owner of the casino, considering his bright, obnoxious style. Rocking a bright purple jacket with black pants and dress shoes, a bright yellow flower set on his lapel, the guy grinned widely at all of us, his bright blue eyes sparkling cheerfully as he gave us all a deep performer’s bow, his combed and coiffed up pink hair bouncing slightly as he moved.

“Well hello everyone! I see I’m fashionably late to this little party! Ah, whoops, sorry there,” he said awkwardly, extending a hand to Vito. “Really, terribly sorry, I didn’t realize there would be anybody standing by the door.”

“Ah...well, ah...no harm, no foul, right?” Vito replied, grinning as he took the guy’s hand, letting him pull him up. “There, uh, is no harm, right?”

“Your nose do not seem to be broken or bleeding, though I am not a doctor, unfortunate as that fact may be. Ah, you sir!”

Kiru jumped as the pink guy pointed to him. “M-Me?”

“Yes, yes, you sir! You’re a doctor, right?” he asked, slinging an arm around Vito’s shoulders, “That, or I have found a fellow actor playing a role.”

“Um, n-no, or, well, yes, I am a doctor, or, well, a surgeon, and no, I am not an actor,” Kiru replied, before standing up, “Is, ah, everything alright?”

“That is what I’m asking you! Would you please check out my friend here? I’m worried I might’ve scuffed up his handsome face.”

“Heh, well aren’t you a flatterer. Thank you very much, mio amico nuovo,” Vito said, grinning happily at the new guy, before looking curiously at his face, “Ah, have I seen you somewhere before?”

“Ah ha, perhaps! In a different place, in a different face, perhaps? For you see, I am the Ultimate Ac-TOR! Hideyoshi Sato!”

A sudden click of a camera caught the newly named Hideyoshi’s attention, the actor glancing over at Nobu. “Oh ho? Are you a fan, perhaps? Looking for an autograph? Or perhaps a paparazzo, come to take candid photos of myself and my new friends?”

“No, I’m neither,” Nobu replied tersely, looking at the photo on his camera.

“Oh? Then who are you?”

“Oh, he’s Nobu, the Ultimate Journalist,” Vito explained, grinning at Hideyoshi’s enthusiasm.

“Ah, fantastic! A journalist!” Letting go of Vito, Hideyoshi clapped his hands together, grinning happily. “Would you like an interview with me? Oh, but of course, I can’t forget my new friend. Mr. Surgeon, would you please check out...ah, I am so so sorry, I completely forgot in my excitement. It hurts to ask, but what is your name?”

“Oh, nessun problema. Mi chiamo Vittorio Ito, the Ultimate Racer! But you may call me Vito! A pleasure to meet you my friend!”

“Ah, a racer? Amazing! You must take me for a drive sometime, I would love to see what cars you own! And to see you put that title to the test!” Both guys start laughing cheerfully, before Hideyoshi looks at Kiru again, who seemed a bit overwhelmed. “Ah, Mr. Surgeon?”

“Eh? O-Oh, right, sorry.” Kiru heads over to Vito, checking his face, while Hideyoshi claps him on the shoulder.

“Thank you very much, Mr. Surgeon! Ah, but please, I hope you do not mind my poor manners. What is your name?”

“Er, I’m Kiru. Kiru Arai.”

“Pleased to meet you, Kirukiru Arai! One second please, I must talk to Mr. Journalist for a moment. Please, come talk to me again once I am done. And you are done checking on Vito, of course, please.”

Staring blankly at Hideyoshi, Kiru nodded, not bothering to correct him as the cheerful actor headed towards Nobu, taking a seat across from him and immediately trying to get him into a conversation. The rest of us just kinda watched in silence, wondering if Hideyoshi actually forgot there were other people in the room.

That question wasn’t answered any time soon, since another guy entered the room about a minute later. And it was at this point that I, and I assume most of the others, started wondering if we were just going to get more and more weird people.

The newest person was an old man. At least, I was pretty sure he was an old man at first. He was short, shorter than me at least, and had a long white beard that fell down to his chest. His really, really buff chest. Like, really, really solidly muscular chest. The man was about as built as Chinatsu, and the black gi he was wearing showed off those muscles quite well, exposing most of his chest and showing off his muscular arms, the sleeves apparently having been torn off sometime before. Immediately, the image of the guy flexing and his sleeves exploding entered my head and I had to bite back a giggle. I looked away from him and noticed Beatrice also had a hand clamped over her mouth, the mage grinning at me when she noticed my smile.

“Well well,” the man suddenly spoke, his quiet voice still booming out and even drawing Hideyoshi’s attention away from Nobu, much to the journalist’s obvious relief. “It appears I am the last one to arrive here.”

He nodded to himself, stroking his beard. It was at that point I noticed his hair was actually black, instead of white, or even graying, like the beard, and cut quite short. His steel-gray eyes glanced at each of us, before staring forward as he nodded to himself again.

“...Um. Hello,” Tadashi spoke up, this time without any prompting from the rest of us. He stiffened as the guy suddenly turned his gaze on him, before clearing his throat and speaking again. “Ah, I’m, um, Tadashi Ageru, the Ultimate Apothecary. And you are?”

The man nodded, closing his eyes again in thought. We waited for him to reply. And waited. And waited a bit more. Finally, when it seemed like one of us was going to have to speak up again, he suddenly spoke, “Good to meet you. My name once was Tetsu Gushiken, and I was once known as the Ultimate Fighter. Now, however, I am a simple hermit.”

“Oh, really?” Nina suddenly spoke up, cocking her head at him, her smile fading into a confused frown. “You are the Ultimate Fighter I heard about? Ah, that is kind of lame…”

“Kind of lame?” It was only when Nina looked at me that I realized I had spoken.

“Yep,” she replied, popping the ‘p’. “You see, I had heard of a legendary fighter who once ruled the underground circuits of Japan, despite being a young teenager. Why, he was supposedly the most fantastic warrior to ever grace the Japanese underground, conquering champions many years older and more experience than he was.”

“What, really?” Vito suddenly spoke up, glancing down at the shorter man with a perplexed expression and getting an annoyed look from Kiru at the sudden movement. “This old man was a champion fighter?”

“Yeah, he was,” Chinatsu suddenly spoke up, looking over at Testu with noticeable interest. “I heard about him from some of the older guys in my family. Apparently he showed up one night to an underground fight club a friend of my cousin was running, and beat the living shit out of everyone there. Put twelve guys in the hospital, eating out straws.”

She suddenly grinned. And it was kind of terrifying. People really shouldn’t have sharp teeth like that.

“And he just escalated from there. Forget hospitals, this guy has put people in the morgue with his bare fists.” Suddenly, the whole room seemed tense as everybody looked at the newcomer with either apprehension or interest. Despite the atmosphere, Chinatsu continued, her sharp, shark-like teeth glinting in the light. “And then, he suddenly vanished completely, only about a year ago. No one’s ever heard from him since.”

Throughout that whole explanation, Tetsu had been staring at Chinatsu with a neutral expression. Suddenly, he nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. “That is all true.”

We all stared at Tetsu, Chinatsu’s smile getting even wider as Nina looked at him with clear interest, before the hunter suddenly cocked her head again. “Ah, but wait. I thought you were seventeen?”

“I am.”

Oh, hello confused silence. I missed you.

And then my old friend was suddenly ripped away as Vito, out of all of us, finally gathered the courage to ask the obvious question. “Then, um...why do you have a beard?”

“Beards grow when one does not shave for a long time.”

Vito blinked at that response, nodded, and stepped away from Kiru, taking a seat on the sofa and contemplating the universe. Or at least I think that’s what he was doing. He looked pretty blank.

“Er, what I think my friend meant,” Hideyoshi started, the poor, brave soul. “Is, ah...why is your beard so long and white when the rest of your hair is short and black?”

“Good question.”

“...”

“...”

Ah, expectant silence. A new breed.

Finally, Tetsu headed over to the sofa, taking a seat by Kinute, who visibly shied away from him, pulling her arms into her jacket and holding it closed.

With that, we had fifteen people here. A nice odd number, I guess. We all just kinda looked around at each other, before lapsing into silence. Then silence got boring and we all started chatting to each other. Or, well, trying to. Some of us were clearly better at it than others. Eventually though, all conversation died down again as we realized nothing was happening. Which brought the awkward silence back to life. Great.

An hour seemed to pass by with all of us sitting there, waiting for someone to come by or something to happen. Neither of which seemed like it would happen.

“Merda, isn't there anything to drink? I'm getting thirsty from all this waiting,” complained Vito as he leaned back into the couch, his arm looped around a seemingly indifferent Miyabi.

[YES, WE CAN QUITE CLEARLY SEE HOW THIRSTY YOU ARE. YOU’VE BEEN FLIRTING WITH EVERY FEMALE IN THE ROOM, AND YET, NO ONE SHALL QUENCH YOUR THIRST.] Akiba promptly responded.

Biting back a retort, Vito scowled, slouching back into the sofa. Rolling my eyes at the two of them, I glanced over at Beatrice, who finally stopped glaring at Kiru and was now grinning at me.

“...Um, hi.”

“Hey there.”

“...So, uh, how’d you do that thing with the, um, flames shooting towards the ceiling?”

“Fire magic. Duh.”

I nodded at that, conceding to her obvious answer. “So, why didn’t you do that for the people after me?”

“Because _somebody_ -” Kiru jumped, shrinking back from Beatrice’s scowl, “-threw off my mojo. Stupid number eight…”

I nodded again at that, about to ask another dumb question, when the door finally opened again. _Oh thank every god in the sky._

As I turned to see our final person, I was immediately struck by how...incredibly average he looked. Dressed in a greenish-brown school uniform, the guy was kind of bizarre in just how unremarkable he looked. He could’ve been any guy you’d see walking down any given street in Japan, and you’d never be able to pinpoint a thing about him that made him stand out. Even normal people didn’t look so...ordinary.

The normal guy looked nervous, scratching his head as he looked at all of us. “Oh, uh...hello there.” _Even his voice sounds generic…_

He looked around again. “Ah, my name is Kimihito Yamazaki. Uh, do any of you know what’s-”

Suddenly, the speakers set up in the room’s corners blare on as an annoyingly high-pitched voice echoed out. “FINALLY! I was beginning to think that guy died in his sleep or something. Yeesh, way to be late on your first day, kid! Even the other late risers weren’t as inconsiderate as you!”

The ordinary guy- _Kimihito, right_ -looked bewildered as the voice yelled at him, about to speak before the speakers cut him off again. “ANYWAYS! ALL OF YOU, COME TO THE MAIN AREA ASAP! THAT’S THE ONE THROUGH THE DOUBLE DOORS, YOU GOT THAT?! I KNOW YOU LITTLE JERKS TRIED OPENING OTHER DOORS EARLIER, SO DON’T GET LOST THIS TIME! Now chop chop, time’s a wastin’!”

The speakers suddenly cut off with a harsh squeak, the shutter doors on the far wall slowly rumbling up as they receded into the ceiling. For a few seconds, nobody did anything. We all just kind of looked at each other, trying to figure out who would be brave enough to actually head through the now-revealed double doors, both white and gold like the first one. As our gazes slowly turned towards Tadashi again, the new guy- _Kimihito, dammit_ -suddenly spoke up.

“Uh, right, shouldn’t we, um, head over there? I guess?” Looking nervously at us, he seems to slowly steady himself. “R-Right, um, I’ll head there first. To make up for being late, I guess.”

Nodding to us, he walks around the couches towards the door. Seeing him walking prompted the rest of us into action, Chinatsu and Hideyoshi taking the lead while the rest of us followed behind them, into a whole new area.

\---:---

The immediate thing to notice about the “main area” the voice demanded we head into was just how huge it was. It looked like we wandered into the main area of some kind of casino, rows and rows of slot machines forming odd aisles. Also situated around the room were more shutters, each with signs above them that seemed to be turned off.

“It’s been sometime since I've been in one of these,” Beatrice said as she looked around the area, the rest of our group started to spread out as they explored the new area. At my questioning look, Beatrice continued before I could properly ask. “I've been hired to play at several casinos before. Though none were as gaudy as this...”

“Huh,” I replied, before nodding and starting to look around with the others.

The first thing we noticed was that, on closer investigation, none of the slot machines seemed to be working, their lights off and the levers completely stiff. Though that fact kinda paled in comparison to the next thing.

The second thing we noticed was the massive round golden head of some sort of smiling creature set in the center of the room, the slot machines curling around its area to give it some space. 

“Is… that supposed to be some kind of mascot?” I questioned as I walked around it. The huge head seemed to be split in half, one have looking like some kind of teddy bear while the other was like a...grinning demon or something. Most noticeably, its eyes were different, the one on its right looking eerily familiar. “It has that weird symbol that was on my note...That was an eye?”

“Hmm… I have never seen any animal like this on any of my expeditions,” a confused Nina spoke up as she cocked her head at the huge head.

“It's likely just a cartoonish version of a different animal. Probably a bear or a tanuki,” inputted Tadashi, his hand on Kimiko’s shoulder to keep her from being left behind, the pale girl still staring rather intently at her lighter, which seems to have fizzled out again. Nina hummed at that, still focused on examining the bizarre statue.

On either side of the giant…bear-head-thing, were several poker and roulette tables. One of which Kimihito was looking under. “Uh...what are you doing?” 

“Oh- ow!” Apparently startled at my voice, Kimihito slammed his head against the bottom of the table. Groaning and rubbing the back of his head as he got out from under it, he looked up at me with pained expression. “W-Well, uh, I had always heard stories about how casino’s tend to cheat so their clients would lose. I wanted to see if it was real or not. And, uh, from what I've seen here, it sadly is.”

Raising an eyebrow at his nervousness, I shrugged and left Kimihito to his searches, moving around the giant golden head and to see the third big, attention drawing thing in the room: a large stage taking up most of the far wall.

The stage in question was currently covered by dark red curtains, concealing it from view, while the giant screen right above it was completely black. Nearby the stage was one shutter with its sign actually turned on, the neon sign denoting the place as the “Court of Coins”, the O’s on it replaced by golden coins. Before I could head towards it though, the lights suddenly turned off, plunging the room in near complete darkness. Near complete because Akiba’s devices were still glowing brightly in the dark.

“MERDA!”

“ACK!”

“W-who turned off the lights?! I can't see!”

Our shouts of surprise are soon drowned out as a loud drum roll begins, with several spotlights moving all around the room before stopping at the stage, the curtains opening up as the lights both focused right at the center of it. A hole in the stage opens up as a figure jumps out of it, making several spins in the air, before landing on the stage, the screen above it turning on to give us a close up of the bizarre creature.

“TA-DAH!” _...What the fuck is that thing?_

On stage was a short, weird little thing that looked like the giant head back in the center of the room, its grinning face staring out at us. The weird...bear(?) thing was split right in half, the more “bearish” half a bright gold while the creepy smiling side was silver, except for its teeth and warped eye, both of which were shining gold along with its golden belly.

“Upupupupu,” it...laughed? “Why the scary faces everybody? Haven’t you ever seen a bear before??” Oh, so it is a bear. Okay then.

“You are a bear?” Nina suddenly spoke up, looking curiously at the weird mascot thing as she moved closer to the stage.

“Yup! A very rare breed of bear, but a bear nonetheless!” the bear responded, looking weirdly proud of himself. “For you see, I am the illustrious Kinirokuma! The special shiny version of the drab and ordinary Monokuma species. Though you may all call me Kinkuma. I insist.”

“Ah. I have not heard of either of those species, Kinkuma,” Nina responded, apparently playing along as she cocked her head again.

“So what are you doing here?” Chinatsu suddenly spoke up, moving in front of the Swiss girl and glaring at the mismatched mascot.

“Good question! But isn’t a better question: what are you doing here?” Kinkuma replied, apparently giggling to himself. “I think you should ask about that before asking about me.”

Chinatsu glared at the bear, before speaking up again, clear hostility in her voice. “Then what are we doing here? Where are we, even?”

“Ah, that’s two questions. But I am a charitable bear, so I shall answer both! Though I’ll answer the last first, and the first last, okay?” Not giving Chinatsu a chance to respond, the bear launched into a lecturing pose. “Now! You sixteen lucky lucky students are here, at the wondrous Palace of Gold, there’s your first question answered, for a once in a lifetime opportunity! A competition, a contest, a little _game_ , that you’re all going to be playing. And no, you can’t bow out of it, so don’t ask.” 

“And what, pray tell, exactly is this game you are planning on making us play?” Testu suddenly asked as he stroked his beard, a glint of interest in his eyes.

“HEY! NO INTERRUPTING YOU OLD FART!” Kinkuma shouted angrily, glaring at Tetsu, who calmly met his gaze in response. After staring at the Ultimate Fighter for about a minute, Kinkuma huffed in annoyance, before continuing. “Anyways, as i was saying...Ah-he-hem, the game you will all be playing is a simple one. It's a game of _justice_ , a grand contest of life and death!” 

The demented bear cackled to himself, leering at Testu as his voice took on a deeper tone at the next sentence. “The aim of the game is for you guys to kill each other to escape.”

Dead silence filled the room at Kinkuma’s announcement, all of us staring at the bear in a mixture of shock, anger, and...maybe some interest, before the silence was shattered by Kinkuma speaking up again in that grating voice, his tone light and cheerful again.

“Heh, that certainly scared you, didn’t it? Don’t worry though, the goal of the game doesn’t involve one of you going around and killing everybody else. Heck, that’s against the rules. No more than two deaths at a time, got it? Don’t make it boring for me.” Kinkuma grinned, crossing his stubby arms over his chest.

“Ah heh heh, now Mr. Kinkuma,” Hideyoshi spoke up, his voice steady, a relaxed grin on his face, “While I do appreciate your attempts at entertaining us, I believe your joke has gone a little too far. You’ve plainly terrified a few of my new friends, and you, well, seem to have drugged us against our will, considering how we woke up here.” He stood up straight, still smiling disarmingly. “I simply ask that you let myself, and my friends, go. If you do so immediately, I solemnly promise, we will not tell anyone that you kidnapped us.” 

“Y-Yeah, what Hide said,” Vito added, stepping up next to Hideyoshi, who promptly grinned happily at the apparent nickname.

“UUUUUUUUUGH,” Kinkuma suddenly sighed loudly, turning away from us as he crossed his arms behind his back. “Why is it that every time a bunch of idiots get held hostage in a story, there’s always some moron out of the group that decides the guy who kidnapped them isn’t serious about it? I suppose next one of you dumbasses is going to try to attack me?”

“H-Hey! Who are you calling-” Vito started, before flinching as Kinkuma pointed at him.

“There we go! Honestly, I was expecting the gangbanger or beardsley to do it, but eh, hot-blooded Italian stallion works too.” Kinkuma shrugged. “Oh well. But hey, lucky for you, Fredo, I don’t need to make an example of any of you.”

Kinkuma suddenly leaned forward, the screen above zooming in on his bright eye and toothy grin. “ _I already have one prepared._ ”

Suddenly, the wall behind Kinkuma on the stage split right down the middle and pulled back, revealing a hangman’s gallows jutting out of the floor of the stage. And up on the platform, with a noose around his neck, was a tall, dark-haired man in a sweat-drenched white shirt and black slacks, his feet bare and his mouth gagged. The guy blinked blearily out at us, the spotlights shining in his eyes, before he suddenly seemed to realize the situation he was in, his eyes widening with shock and fear. Immediately, he started struggling in his restraints, muffled screaming sounding out as he tried desperately to do something, anything, to stave off what was about to happen, his crazed eyes darting around at each of us.

“Meet the ULTIMATE EXAMPLE!” Kinkuma shouted, before bringing his hands together in a loud CLAP. That’s when the trap door on the platform opened, the “example’s” desperate red eyes locking with mine for a brief second before he dropped, and a loud SNAP echoed throughout the room.

Complete silence returned as everyone stared in complete shock at the hanging body, the soft creak of wooden echoing out as the corpse swayed. _That. What? No. That...can’t be right._

Apparently someone agreed with me. [YOU’RE KIDDING, RIGHT?] Akiba “spoke” up, the even tone of his synthesized voice not matching the clear confusion and nervousness on his face. [YOU CAN’T HONESTLY EXPECT US TO BELIEVE YOU REALLY HANGED SOMEONE RIGHT IN FRONT OF US. I ADMIT IT WAS AN IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE BUT REALLY NOW. YOU CAN’T HONESTLY EXPECT US TO BELIEVE THAT.]

“Y-Yeah. Yeah!” Vito said, glancing at Akiba before glaring at the stage. “Ay, stronzo! What the hell kind of twisted performance is this?! You seriously trying to make us think that you actually...a-actually...M-Man, fuck you! Fuck your stupid modern art shit and let us go already!”

Kinkuma stayed silent for a moment, practically radiating irritation. “Ugh, kids today. So skeptical. Well, luckily for you, I prepared for this eventuality. So congrats, none of you have to die yet.”

I blinked at his statement as something...warm, hit my cheek. Slowly bringing a hand up to my face, I touched my cheek, and moved my stained fingers in front of my eyes. 

That’s blood. I realized immediately, staring at the crimson liquid staining my fingers. Dimly, I heard someone screaming. My eyes slowly lifted up, back to the stage, as I saw the Ultimate Example. The bloody, pulpy mess of what had been the Ultimate Example, the corpse ripped to shreds by multiple steel spears, jutting out of it at odd angles.

As a rush of bile filled my mouth, I could hear Kinkuma’s cheerful, taunting voice. “ _But I won’t be so generous next time._ ”

**SIXTEEN CONTESTANTS REMAINING.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Alrighty, so, this is me and my co-author's first story on this site. Hope you liked it, and want to see more. Feel free to leave feedback.
> 
> IndiSmile: I'm just glad we got to work on something together.
> 
> Thanks again, and keep an eye out. There's more to come.


	2. Bonding

Chapter 2

Silence hung over the room as I stared at my hands. Even though the blood had been cleaned off, it still felt like it was there, staining my hands. A sudden rush of bile almost escaped my lips again as I clamped a hand over my mouth. Swallowing and gagging as it burned down my throat, I stiffened slightly as I suddenly felt a hand on me, before relaxing as I felt it rub my back in a comforting gesture. I turned to look at Beatrice, who handed me a glass of water, a concerned look in her eyes.

“Here, take some deep breaths after drinking this,” she suggested, smiling comfortingly as I grabbed the glass of water. “Hey, hey, not too fast.”

I shuddered, but did as she said, taking a slow drink. The cool water felt really good, refreshing me after the day’s events. 

“I..I suppose it'd be to much to ask if this is all just a dream, huh?” I asked weakly. Beatrice looking away was the only response I needed. Finally looking around the new room, I noticed that we weren't alone in the cafeteria. Sitting a few chairs down at the same dining table was Kimiko, her lighter not in her hands for once as she stared down at the table. 

Off to the side at a different table, Vito and Hide were sitting next to each other, talking about something. Hide’s smile had vanished completely, a much more serious look on his face than usual, while Vito looked noticeably pale and shaken, his jumpsuit half-off and revealing his white tank top. Off by herself in another corner of the cafeteria, Miyabi seemed to be eating an apple, taking some small bites. Even though her face remained as calm as ever, I could see her hand shaking slightly.

“W-Where is everyone else?” I asked. I blanked out for a fair bit there, after the...I think Beatrice helped me into this room. Looking around, it honestly seemed more like a big dining room than a cafeteria, four long tables covered with huge white tablecloths set out in a rectangle, a bunch of chairs set around the each of them, with red and blue cushions, also embroidered with gold, on the chairs and gold candelabras set in the center of each table. Said tables and chairs, of course, were also made of fucking _mahogany_. Not only that, but the dark green walls were also covered in gold designs, with actual pillars in the corners to apparently hold the ceiling up. And then there were the fucking chandeliers, three huge, gaudy golden things hanging around the room and bathing us all in light.

“Kinkuma said he opened up some rooms for us. So Chinatsu took some people to look around, though I think a couple people just went back to their rooms,” Beatrice explained, unaware or uncaring of my mounting irritation as Kinkuma’s ostentatious design style, before sighing and taking off her large hat. She set it down on the table and leaned back in her chair, staring up at the ceiling. “Hopefully they'll be back soon.” 

As if on cue, the door opened to reveal a downtrodden Kiru, who was noticeably missing his doctor's coat and had several bloody stains on his clothes, and a visibly shaking Kimihito. As everyone's attention was drawn to the two of them, Kiru took a few moments to visibly compose himself, letting out a deep sigh before looking at us with haunted eyes.

“I...examined the body of the deceased. Partially to see if it was a fake, partially to see if I...if I could do anything to help him…Sadly, I was mistaken on both accounts.” With that said, Kiru took a nearby seat and cradled his head in his arms. As silence began to descend upon us again, Kimihito spoke up. 

“Uh, I-I checked out one of the small rooms that had opened up. I-It’s called the, uh, ‘Court of Coins’ and K-K-Kinkuma said it was a gift shop. He said if we found any coins to go there...” Kimihito grinned awkwardly as he trailed off into silence, his brow furrowed in confusion and worry. Fortunately for him, our attention was drawn elsewhere as the doors on the opposite side of the room opened, Chinatsu walking in and looking surprisingly calm.

“It seems we have plenty of food inside the kitchens. Nina said she'd be making a meal for everyone, so if you need to talk with her, she's in there,” she reported, calmly and concisely. Not waiting for any response, Chinatsu turned around and walked back into the kitchen, most likely to help Nina out.

“A nice meal is quite welcome, given the circumstances,” Hideyoshi said, his smile back, though noticeably strained. “Though, one of us should tell everyone else that went to their rooms the news, or else they'd miss the meal.” 

“I could do it,” I suddenly announced, the words escaping my mouth before I could think. Immediately, Hideyoshi grinned at me, while Beatrice raised an eyebrow at my clearly shaken self.

“Ah, thank you very much, Ms. Student!” Hide exclaimed, clapping his hands together. “Your efforts are quite appreciated! Ah, though, um, what is your name again? I do not believe I actually heard it…”

“It’s Atsuko. Atsuko Oko,” I stated, before remembering something. “Uh, not Atsuko Atsuko Oko, just Atsuko Oko. I was, uh, doing a thing.”

“Ooooh, I see, I see.” Hideyoshi nodded, before looking confused and pointing at Kiru. “Wait...does that mean your name isn’t Kirukiru?”

“What?” Kiru looked up at Hide, his brow furrowed in confusion. “No. It’s just Kiru.”

“...Well. That’s embarrassing.” Hide frowned, before shrugging. “Eh. Now then, I believe you volunteered to help, Ms. Oko?” 

“Y-Yeah, I'll go do that right now,” I replied, before standing up and trying to walk out of the cafeteria. Of course, I didn’t get far, and nearly fell over as my legs gave out. Luckily, Beatrice managed to catch me before my face became acquainted with the floor. 

“Th-Thank you...” I muttered as she helped me stand back up, a concerned look in her eyes.

“Yeesh, you’re really out of it,” she said, looking closely at me. _Please don’t blush, please don’t blush…_ “Are you sure you’re okay to go walking around?”

“Y-Yeah, I-I can handle it,” I replied, stepping back only for Beatrice to immediately have to wrap an arm around my waist as I nearly fell over again. “A-Ah, s-sorry.”

“Hey, no problem. But you definitely shouldn’t be walking around on your own.”

“Perhaps I could-” “Oh, maybe I should-” Vittorio and Kimihito both paused, before staring at each other in annoyance and confusion, respectively.

“Heh, no worries guys. I'll go with her. I’m closer anyway, and I’m sure Koko here would prefer a girl help her around, right?” _...Koko? What happened to Madam? Oh, wait, she asked me a question._

“R-Right, yeah. Um, thanks for offering though.” Vito and Kimihito nodded in response, Vito sitting down with an annoyed huff while Kimihito continued to stand around awkwardly, looking around the room with his usual nervous expression.

Beatrice giggled at the guys’ reactions, before smiling at me again. “Alright, c’mon Koko, let’s head through the kitchen. It’s faster, and we’ll get to check in with Natsu and Nina first.” _Oh, she just gives everybody nicknames. I think?_

“Right, everybody good here? Nothing you need before we go?” she asked, receiving a few muttered responses and a wave from Hideyoshi before she started pulling me along with her towards the kitchen. 

Entering the kitchen, I was actually kinda relieved to see it look somewhat normal for once. Sure, the counters seemed to be made of marble, but at least none of the ovens or silverware were gold. If they were, I honestly think I might’ve started smashing things. Which probably wasn’t a good plan, since Chinatsu and Nina were currently in here.

The taller girl had her jacket draped across a chair in favor of wearing an apron, and was chopping up pork while her smaller friend, wearing an apron over her still completely pristine white suit, was stirring a pot full of what looked like vegetables, humming some tune under her breath.

“Hm? Do you two need anything?” Chinatsu asked, glancing at the two of us, her knife chopping easily through the meat in front of her, making a dull thunking noise on the board beneath it. Suddenly, she paused, a worried look in her eyes. “Are you okay?”

“Koko?” I blinked as I heard Beatrice’s voice, before noticing I had gone completely stiff at the sight of the raw...bl-bloody…

“Ah, hm,” Chinatsu nodded, before grabbing a bowl and setting it upside-down on top of the pork. “Sorry about that. Do you want me to get you any water?”

“N-No...I-I...I think I’ll be okay…” I grinned weakly, shivering slightly as Beatrice’s arm tightened around my waist.

“Sorry, I didn’t think-” “No, no, it’s my fault-”

“It’s okay!” I spoke up as Beatrice and Chinatsu both started apologizing. “It’s fine. Sorry to interrupt your cooking, we’re just, uh...um…”

“Heading the lounge,” Beatrice explained. “It’s quicker to go through the kitchen than to head into the main area, you know? And yeah, sorry for interrupting.”

“It’s no problem. You two take care now, alright?” Chinatsu smiled at us, an actually kind of reassuring sight, and we headed towards the exit. As we walked out, Nina suddenly looked up and glanced around.

“Eh? Was somebody else in here?” she asked, looking confused.

“...I’ll explain in a minute,” Chinatsu offered before the doors closed again. Beatrice and I glanced at each other, before giggling at the other girl’s airheadedness.

The lounge was as gaudy as ever, though much less occupied than it was before. The only person around was Akiba, who was laying down on one of the sofa’s. Noticing us, he sat up and tried to put on his usual smug smile, though he still looked quite shaken. 

[WELL HELLO HELLO.] he started typing, [HIYA WITCHY AND...GIVE ME A SEC, I’LL THINK OF SOMETHING FOR YOU. CAN’T USE GENERIC, ALREADY DID THAT FOR BLANKMAN. OH, WAIT, THAT ONE’S BETTER. YOU WANT GENERIC THEN?]

“Uh, no, thank you.” _Why did I thank him?_ “Ah, so, what’re you up to?”

He sighed, grimacing at his devices, one of his phones in his gloved hand. [TRYING TO CONNECT TO THE WI-FI. OR GET ANY KIND OF SIGNAL AT ALL. I SWEAR WE MUST BE IN THE BOONIES OR SOMETHING. I CAN’T GET-UGH, FUCK IT, YOU GOT THE POINT. SEEMS I’M LOCKED OFF FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD, STUCK SLUMMING IT WITH YOU MORTALS.]

“Heh. Well, us mortals are going to be serving food in about an hour, give or take,” Beatrice said, smirking as Akiba immediately stared at her.

[OH FUCK YES, I’M FREAKING STARVING. THANKS FOR THE HEAD’S UP WITCHY. I’LL GIVE YOU A GOOD REVIEW ON MAGI-YELP OR SOMETHING WHEN WE GET OUT OF HERE. HAVE FUN WITH THE...HM. HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS?] _For what?_

“Well, she did get this really cute confused look on her face when I called her Koko,” Beatrice replied with a grin.

Akiba suddenly jerked forward, a sharp bark of laughter erupting from his mouth. [OH MY GOD THAT IS FANTASTIC. RIGHT, SEE YOU WITCHY AND KOKO!] 

_...Well, at least it's better than Generic._ “Yeah...have fun doing...whatever it is you're going to do,” I replied, though it was a bit hard to tell if he heard me, since he seemed to be trying at least one more time to connect to any sort of signal. Waving cheerfully at Akiba, Beatrice led me into that first hallway where all our rooms were.

“If nothing else, I wish we’d get out of here soon just so I don't have to look at all these god awful decorations,” I muttered. I suppose her giggling in response was a sign that she agreed with me. 

“Well, for now, let's just get tell everybody about the meal that Natsu and Nina are cooking. Tetsu and Dashi are still looking around, I think, so we just need to find Fuyu, Nobu, and Kinu.” As we walked down the hallway, we checked the golden nameplates on each door, eventually finding Kinute’s at the third door on the right. Reaching out to knock on the door, I finally remembered that Beatrice still had her arm around my waist. 

_She's been holding me this entire time._ Feeling my face begin to burn up, I immediately looked away from Beatrice, hoping she didn’t seem me blushing. “Uh, y-you can let go of me now. I-I can stand by myself.” 

“You sure? I don't mind helping you for now Koko,” she replied, clear concern in her voice. I was honestly tempted to let her keep holding me, but I shook my head, grinning at her in an attempt to seem confident.

“N-No, it's okay. I think I can stand by myself now,” I said, my shaking knees betraying me almost immediately. Beatrice raised an eyebrow at me, frowning. _She’s not mad, is she?_

After staring at me for about a minute, Beatrice sighed. “Right, okay, I’ll let you stand on your own,” she agreed, before suddenly pointing a finger in my face. “But if you fall again I'm going to carry you back to the lounge, got it?”

“G-Got it,” I replied. _Wait, like in a fireman’s carry? Or...a bridal carry?_

Before I could dive down that rabbit hole of embarrassing fantasies, Beatrice finally let me go. Luckily, I didn’t immediately slam my head against the floor. I did have to steady myself by pressing a hand on the wall, but I didn’t fall at least. Anyway, done with that little issue, I finally knocked on the door. And then we waited. And waited.

“...If she’s not here in five minutes-” Beatrice began, before the door suddenly opened. Well, barely. We could only see a slight crack between the door and the doorframe, a familiar silver eye peeking out at us, a tangle of grey hair framing it.

“What do you want?” Kinute asked, her voice flat and irritated.

“Oh, uh…” I grinned awkwardly, a bit surprised by how annoyed she seemed. _I thought she was more nervous than this?_ “Um, right. Ah, Beatrice and I came by to tell you that, well, we’re meeting for dinner in a bit.”

“Is that it?” she asked, plainly glaring at me. _I...guess she’s on edge? I mean, she did just see someone die in front of her…Right, don’t think about that._

“Yeah, uh. Yep.”

“Right.” She promptly shut the door. _...Okay then._

“Hm. Well, that’s interesting,” Beatrice noted, frowning at the door. I glanced back at her, and was surprised to see that she seemed pretty creeped out, a noticeable look of revulsion in her eyes. Noticing me looking, she smirks. “What’s up? Do you want me to carry you already?”

“Eh? A-Ah, no, I’m fine. Just, um...it’s okay if we move a little slow, right?”

“Heh, sure. Wanna walk and talk?” she asked, starting to move down the hall, very clearly hanging back to let me catch up.

“S-Sure...um…” I thought for a moment on what to ask about, before deciding to just bite the bullet. “Uh, back when...back at the stage, uh...I kind of...blanked out.”

“Yeah, you and Kimiko both went out for bit there,” Beatrice said, turning around and walking backwards, keeping her eyes on me. “Dashi had to help her to the cafeteria, and Miyabi helped me with you.”

“O-Oh, really?” _Ah, I should probably thank her when we get back._ “Um, who...who screamed?”

“Fuyumi. The rest of us were pretty shocked too, of course, but, well, that girl’s got a good set of lungs. Must be all that lawyering.”

 _Right. Lawyering. That’s totally a word._ “Okay. I guess we just...kinda left after that?”

“Oh, right!” Beatrice suddenly stopped, coincidentally in front of Nobu’s door, the sixth on the left. “I completely forgot to give you this.” She suddenly opened up her cloak, showing that she was wearing a black and red school uniform under it, much to my fantasies’ disappointment. She rummaged around in one of the cloaks pockets, before pulling out an electronic tablet and handing it to me.

“Uh…?” I stared at her, then down at the device in my hand.

“That’s the e-handbook. The, uh, golden prick handed them out to us earlier. You were, again, pretty out of it, so I decided to hang onto it for you.”

“Oh, thanks,” I replied, glancing down at the tablet-uh, e-handbook, again. I shrugged, putting it in my jacket, deciding to check it out later.

“Yeah, they’re kinda handy. Upside, they have a little map and bios for everybody. Downside, they have gold-dick’s rules on them. Uh, make sure you look at those, okay? I really wouldn’t want to-...Okay, not gonna finish that thought,” she muttered, looking at the door. “Anyway, back to work!”

Before I could ask about what she was going to say, she rapped her knuckles on the door. This time, it was only about a minute before the door opened, Nobu looking down at us with a raised eyebrow.

“Heyo Nobu!” Beatrice greeted cheerfully. “We’re all having dinner in the cafeteria in about an hour. Well, probably less now that we’ve been walking around for a bit. Still, meet up with everybody there, okay?”

“Okay,” he replied, before sticking his head out and glancing down the hallway. “Hm. You two are alone?”

“In the sense that we’re the only other two people currently in the hallway, yeah.” _Oh, whoops. Said that outloud again._ At least Beatrice seemed amused, but Nobu was frowning at me.

“Riiiiight. Look, I’m sure you two think you’re fine on your own, but you really shouldn’t be walking in pairs like this.”

“Uh, what? Why?” Beatrice asked, looked annoyed with him.

“Because one of you could easily kill the other.” I think my heart skipped a beat at his reply.

“W-What?” I stammered as his cold brown eyes turned to me.

“You heard the toy on the stage, right? Whoever is controlling it wants us to murder one another. So, why wouldn’t somebody take advantage of that while everyone is running around like this, confused and uncomfortable? It would probably be the easiest time to do so.”

“That...That’s not…”

“Can you honestly say it wouldn’t happen? How much do you really know about the people around you, Ms. Oko? I have heard some interesting rumors about-”

“Alright, seriously, calm it down, Journo,” Beatrice suddenly spoke up, frowning at Nobu. “Bringing up the possibility of murder like that is just going to get it to stick in people’s minds. Everybody will wind up getting scared and paranoid of each other instead of focusing on gold-dick, the one we know for a fact is a dangerous psycho.”

“Hm. Interesting idea you have there, Ms. Goldfield. Which does remind me, are you Japanese?”

“Yup,” Beatrice promptly answered. “Bea Goldfield is my stage name, not my real one. And before you ask, you’re not getting that name from me, especially after you freaked out Koko.”

“Fair enough. Still though, I wouldn’t get too comfortable you two. It’s easy to believe the best of people, but doing so will leave you blind to their worst,” Nobu stated, before nodding to us. “Thank you for informing me about dinner. One last question though. What happened to your staff?”

“Oh, that-” Beatrice started, before immediately looking startled. “Shit! I forgot it in the cafeteria!”

“Ahhhh,” Nobu replied, nodding again, a blank expression on his face. “Well, good to have a better idea of what kinds of people you two are. Have a pleasant walk.” He nodded a final time, before closing the door, leaving me with an increasingly nervous looking Beatrice.

“Shit, shit, shit, I stuck so many things in that-Oh fuck, we left it with Kimiko,” she suddenly realized, staring at me with complete horror. It took me a second for it to click, but when it did-

“We need to go back.”

“R-Right, but-”

“Beatrice. _We need to go back_.”

“B-But what about Fuyumi?”

“Oh, right,” I realized, before knocking on Nobu’s door again. As it opened again, Nobu’s eyebrow raised once more before the other one joined it as I immediately said, “Hey again Nobu! Could you please tell Fuyumi about the dinner, we might need to keep Kimiko from burning down the entire cafeteria.” At his confused look, I continued. “Bea’s staff shoots flames and Kimiko’s-”

“A blatant pyromaniac,” he finished, his face now quite pale. “Right, I can-”

“THANKS!” I shouted, before grabbing Bea’s hand and dragging her down the hallway, running like the hounds of hell were at my feet. _I wonder how badly Kinkuma would react if we set fire to the casino?_

\---:---

Thankfully, once we got there, nothing was on fire. The whole cafeteria was oddly drenched though, a morose looking Kimiko standing off to one side as Miyabi held Beatrice’s staff out of reach, frowning down at the soaked girl, her own suit also visibly wet and clinging to her body.

Hideyoshi, Vittorio, and Kiru were also visibly wet, Vito’s tank top quite noticeably soaked and clinging to his chest. His...actually pretty muscular chest. Hm. _He actually looks kinda good with his hair down...No, no, do not be attracted to the sleazy creep. Even if he does have nice abs._

Meanwhile, the other two looked more bedraggled than sexy- _wait, no, what?_ -Hide in particular looking pretty bemused at how his hair was drooping over his eyes, brushing it back only to huff in annoyance as it refused to stay put. 

“Well this is a fine mess,” he muttered, before noticing us. “Oh, hello Ms. Mage and...Ako, right?”

“Uh, no, it’s Atsuko-” I started, only to immediately freeze as Miyabi glared over at me. Or, more likely, at Beatrice, who squeaked at the irritated look the seamstress was sporting.

“You,” Miyabi hissed, glaring at Beatrice. “This is yours, right?”

“Y-Yes, it is. Um, m-my apologies for leaving it unattended-” Bea tried to apologize, only to squeak again as Miyabi walked over and shoved the staff against her chest.

“Keep better track of it. Bakudan nearly set us all on fire,” she growled, water still dripping from her hair and glasses. “You are very, _very_ lucky she only managed to hit the sprinkler system.”

“R-Right. S-Sorry,” Beatrice apologized, looking over at Kimiko then Miyabi again. “It won’t happen again.”

“It better not. As it is, if my suit is ruined, I fully expect you to reimburse me for every inch of fabric. Am I understood?”

“Y-Y-Yes ma’am…” Bea squeaked, shrinking back as Miyabi glared down at her. The seamstress nodded, then pushed past her and headed towards the doors to the kitchen. Before she walked through the double doors, she glanced back at Beatrice, her glare a little less intense, but still present.

“I realize it was an accident, so I am willing to forgive you. _This time,_ ” she said, scowling for emphasis. “As it is, you _do_ owe me. And I intend to collect.”

The seamstress then pushed through the doors, leaving us all to deal with the current mess in the dining hall.

“Madre di Dio...what a woman…” Vito spoke up, an awestruck look on his face.

“Right. Well. Hm.” Hideyoshi grinned at us, shrugging as he clasped his hands together. “Ah, I suppose you two are wondering what happened?”

“A little, yeah,” I responded, glancing over at Beatrice, who was clutching her staff rather tightly and blushing as she stared at the kitchen doors.

“Well, um...Ms. Pyro, the, uh, one in the black t-shirt, found Ms. Mage’s staff lying on the floor and apparently recalled some function it has. And then, well, there was fire. And then water. Because the sprinklers turned on. Due to the fire. Which, by the way,” Hideyoshi said, raising an eyebrow, but still smiling, at Beatrice, “How in the world did she just summon up flames from your staff? ...Um, Ms. Mage?”

“Huh?” Beatrice suddenly looked back at him, then blushed again as she realized how stunned she’d been. “Ah, right, right. Um, well, the staff itself is mainly a focal point for those with mystic talent, but it does contain a sort of magical essence all on its own. Odds are, it reacted to Kimi’s affinity for fire and, well, acted appropriately.”

“Ah.” Hide nodded, apparently accepting her explanation. “Right then. Well, I suppose it wouldn’t be too much to ask for you to remove the water then? Or simply dry everything, if that would work better.”

“Oh, yeah, sure, sure, I can handle that. Um, would you like me to dry you too, or…?”

“No, actually, I think I’d rather just change my clothes myself, if it’s not too much trouble. Besides, hot air can make my hair frizzy, and then it’s, ugh, just a complete mess…” Hide sighed at the thought of his hair getting even worse, then grinned again. “Well, I shall leave you to it! Come along Vito!”

“Eh?” Vittorio blinked, then glanced at Hide. “Uh, perdoname, what was it?”

“Changing clothes, Vito. Come along, it’s best to leave these two to their work.” _Wait, why am I being roped into this?_

With that all said, Hideyoshi confidently strode past us, followed by a confused looking Vito, water still dripping down his...quite exposed chest. _Wow, those really are nice abs…_

Luckily for me, Vito didn’t notice me staring as he followed Hide into the kitchen, though, judging by Bea’s smirk, she did. 

“Shut up.”

“I didn’t say any-”

“Shut. Up.” I said, frowning at the grinning witch. And with that, we got to work. Or, well, tried to.

“Did those two completely forget about me?” Kiru spoke up, startling both of us. Noticing our looks of surprise, the surgeon frowned in annoyance. “Yes, I’m still here.”

“Right. Okay. Um, are you going to be sticking around, or no?” Beatrice asked, looking at him with a fair bit of annoyance.

Kiru sighed, then looked over at Kimiko, who was tracing circles in the table with her finger and looked like an utterly miserable wet puppy, complete with little whining noises. “I would, but I think we should probably attend to her first.”

“Oh, right. Hey, Koko, mind taking Kimi to her room?” Beatrice asked, now looking at me.

“Wait, what? Why do I need to?”

“Because I don’t like Kiru,” she explained. _Ouch._

Kiru sighed again, rolling his eyes. “Your dislike is noted. Whatever. Just get me if she gets sick.” Grumbling under his breath, he headed out of the room, leaving us to deal with the moody pyromaniac. Or, more specifically, leaving me to deal with her.

“C’moooon, pleeeease?” Beatrice begged me, her hands clasped in front of her with her staff leaning against the nearby wall, her eyes wide and pleading. “You don’t want Kimi to catch a cold, do you?”

“Why can’t you dry her off?” I asked, frowning at the...unfortunately cute sight in front of me.

“Because, the power I need to dry a person’s clothes are on an entirely different level than the power I need to dry an entire room,” she explained very matter-of-factly. “Do you want me to incinerate her clothes?”

I thought on that possibility for moment, glanced at Kimiko, or more specifically at how her black t-shirt clung to her chest, then thought some more. 

“Alright, poor choice of words. C’mon, just handle her for me, please? I’ll owe you one!”

“Ugh, fine,” I finally agreed, walking over and slinging Kimiko’s arm over my shoulders and lifting her up with my free arm around her waist, the pale girl leaning on me as she finally stood up, before I smirked at Beatrice, trying not to blush as I felt Kimiko’s chest press against my side. “Careful though. You don’t want to be in debt to everyone here, do you?”

“Bleh. I deal with too many debt stuff already. What’s a little more?” she asked, shrugging.

I frowned at her words, but decided to leave it be, half-dragging Kimiko through the room and into the kitchen, leaving Beatrice behind to clean up the dining room. Chinatsu looked at me as I walked in, the tall girl leaning against one of the counters as Nina finished up the rest of the food. She smirked at how Kimiko was leaning on me, but didn’t say anything as I dragged the soggy girl through the kitchen, a few trails of water already on the floor. _I guess one of the guys told her what happened._

As I reached the door to Kimiko’s room, I realized something important that I probably should’ve thought of earlier. “Uh...how do I unlock this?”

“Dunno…” Kimiko muttered, halfheartedly reaching out and grabbing the knob. She gave it a few experimental twists, before letting her arm drop down to her side again. “Aw…”

I sighed in annoyance, preparing to go back and talk to Beatrice again, and then bit back a scream as a horribly familiar face popped up beside me, his golden grin leering up at us.

“Well now, well now, well now! Isn’t this interesting? Two girls, wet and willing, heading into a room together…” The demented bear started giggling to himself, before grinning up at us again. “Yup, yup, definitely up to something immoral~.”

“W-What? What-No, forget it,” I growled, not at all in the mood to deal with this...thing. “What do you want?”

“Ooo, somebody’s mad. Weird, I thought you were the type to freeze when frightened. You certainly shut down hard earlier today.” He giggled again, before reaching behind himself and pulling out two keys on key rings. “Hah! You two completely forgot to take these earlier, you know that? I can understand the ditzy pyro over here, but I thought you were supposed to be a brainiac. Didn’t even bother to check the desk drawers, tut tut.”

I scowled at the annoying jackass in front of me, before holding out my free hand, keeping the other around Kimiko’s waist. “Just give me the keys, and we’ll get inside.”

“Heh. Fine, fine, they’re supposed to be yours anyway. Just don’t lose them, ‘cause I’m not gonna give you a replacement, and none of you jerks are allowed to sleep outside of the designated areas anyway.”

“Designated areas?” I repeated as a question, taking the keys from him and looking at them. One was a plain bronze, while the other was bright orange with little red flames on it. Each had its own ring that it was hanging on, plenty of room on them for other keys.

“Yeesh, does everybody do that? Yes, designated areas. Check your damn handbook if you want more info.” He started walking away, then turned back, his perpetual grin seeming more cheerful. “Oh, and in case you didn’t guess, the bronze one is yours, not so brainy brainiac. Try not to get it mixed up with the other generic side character.”

I growled in annoyance as the bear started to walk away again, only for him to stop again.

“Oh, also, those cameras in your rooms are always active. Just letting you know in case you feel like doing the obvious thing with your wet gal pal there~.”

I sputtered indignantly as the creep started to leave, only for him to _turn back yet again the fucking_ \- “WHAT!?”

“Another quick thing. If you do fuck her, I reserve the rights to distribute the video. Ta-tah now!” _I am going to gut him like a trout._

Finally alone, I jammed the key into the doorknob and turned, finally getting the stupid thing open. I promptly pushed Kimiko inside, the blonde girl stumbling slightly as she regained her footing, before following her in and looking directly up at the camera.

“...Hey, Kimiko, do you have any shirts you don’t usually wear?” I asked the pyro, causing her to blink blearily at me.

“Uh....maybe the dark green one? Why?”

Grinning, I grabbed the shirt in question and her desk chair, moving it under the camera and getting up on it. I wrapped the shirt around the camera’s lense, before pausing and quickly checking the e-handbook’s rules. _Hm...nothing about covering up cameras, only destroying them. Heh, nice oversight there, you prick._

“Right, there we go. Should be fine for you to change-H-Hey! What are you doing!?” I...very calmly asked and not at all squeaked as Kimiko pulled her shirt up over her stomach, showing off her cute black bra. And, in it, her pale, round...um...

“What? Both girls, yeah?” she muttered, shrugging as she continued to undress, oblivious to my mounting embarrassment. I promptly covered my eyes, then uncovered them as I realized I still needed to get off the chair, then averted my eyes as I headed out of the room, not at all thinking of the image currently burned in my mind of Kimiko stripped down to her black bra, flame-patterned panties and black knee high socks, all of which clinging to her slender, soaked and dripping body. _Why are all the girls here so cute??_

\---:---

Finally, much later, everybody actually managed to gather for dinner, all of us seated in the, surprisingly completely dry, dining hall as Nina and Chinatsu brought out several plates and silverware for us. When I showed up, Tadashi and Testu had finally returned from their investigations, although Testu looked pretty downtrodden as he rested his head on the table. 

“What’s up with him?” I asked Beatrice, who was sitting closer to the kitchen, propping her head up on one hand and looking pretty tired as she glanced at me.

“Oh, they found out that all the slot machines in the main area are working now, and, well, Tetsu decided to try them out.”

“He lost,” Tadashi spoke up, his eyes looking unamused. “Badly. And repeatedly.”

“I didn’t lose every time,” Testu mumbled, clearly sulking.

“True. He managed to get one _hundred_ golcoins all in one go, then managed to spend every single one of them, utterly convinced he could double his earnings.”

“I said quintuple, not double…”

“Golcoins?” I asked Tadashi, ignoring Tetsu’s muttering.

“Oh, they’re these little gold coins with Kinkuma’s face on them,” Tadashi explained, holding one up and showing off Kinkuma’s smiling face.

“Why not call them gold coins then?”

Tadashi sighed in annoyance. “Apparently because-” He suddenly started speaking in a grating, high-pitched tone. “-’ _I can’t copyright gold coins!_ ’ That was Kinkuma’s logic.”

“...Why not just call them kinirocoins? Or kincoins?”

Tadashi shrugged, only to pause as a muffled “ _MOTHERFUCKER_ ” sounded out from the ceiling. “...Was that Kinkuma?”

“...Anyway, uh, how’re you doing, Beatrice? You seem tired.”

“Nnn...used too much mana. Hope you enjoy your dry butts…” she muttered, before smirking at me, her tired eyes getting a little livelier. “Speaking of fine rears, how was Kimiko’s?”

 _Welp._ I frowned, not at all blushing no matter what anybody said, as Tadashi immediately looked at me, his eyebrows raised and an odd expression on his face. _...Either he’s jealous, or curious. ...Should I? No, no, resist the urge to tease._

“Ooo, flame print panties? Really?” _Beatrice you complete jerk._

“I said nothing.”

“Your face did~. Good to know my skills haven’t gotten rusty.”

“Ahem.” Tadashi cleared his throat, and I was immediately envious of his stupid, face-concealing surgical mask. “So, um, what exactly happened earlier that you, ah...apparently saw Kimiko in...a state of undress?”

I sighed. “Let’s...just wait for everybody else to get here.”

“Yeah, good suggestion,” Kimihito spoke up, and I definitely did not scream in surprise.

“WHAT THE FUCK!? WHERE’D YOU COME FROM!?” I calmly asked.

“...I was here the entire time,” Kimihito responded, sitting right between Tetsu and Tadashi. “I came in with these two.”

“...Right. Yeah, I...totally saw you. You were totally here the whole time. Ah, even when the whole fire incident happened, right?” 

“Uh, no. I went to find Tadashi and Tetsu. What fire incident?”

“...I’ll tell you later,” I replied, sitting down next to Beatrice and ignoring her giggling, earnestly hoping somebody else showed up soon.

“Hmm...Well aside from Tetsu’s new addiction,” Tadashi started explaining, as I sunk down in my chair. “We also found a laundry room and a waste disposal room that’s connected to it. Kinkuma appeared at that point and told us that the laundry room would be turned off at night, as would the slot machines.”

“That should be all the rooms that were opened up,” Kimihito spoke up, taking over for Tadashi. “We did find some more closed shutters, and, according to the map, they lead to a different part of the casino. Though I don't think we'll be going there anytime soon, if at all.” _So what you're saying is, we're going to be stuck in this ridiculous place, at the mercy of a psychotic bear with a gold fetish._ Doing my best not to scowl at Kimihito for being the bearer of bad news, I leaned further back into my chair, sinking down against the cushions. _Maybe if I fuse with my chair, I won’t have to deal with all this crap…_

Thankfully, a distraction arrived in the form of a cleaned up Hide, his hair combed one more and his clothes dry, his arm around Kiru as he dragged the frowning surgeon along, with Vito trailing close behind, his hair spiked back up again and his jumpsuit zipped back up. 

“Ah, hello my friends!” Hide greeted, glancing around the room. “I see Ms. Beatrice did a remarkable job at drying this place.” Smiling warmly at us as he sat across from Beatrice and I, Vito and Kiru sitting down next to him, on his left and right respectively. Hide was about to start speaking again when a look of surprise crossed his face, his eyebrows raising as he spotted Kimihito. “Oh my, did Kinkuma kidnap you as well?” 

Kimihito stared incredulously at Hideyoshi before clearing his throat. “Uh...Hideyoshi, I've been here from the beginning…” At the actor’s look of complete confusion, Kimihito elaborated further. “Kimihito Yamazaki...The ultimate historian?” _That's his ultimate title?_

“Oh...I’m sorry Mr. Kimihito, it seems my memory is not as good as I thought it was,” Hideyoshi admitted, smiling apologetically at Kimihito. The historian sighed, but waved off the incident as no big deal. _I wonder how often he’s overlooked…_

“Well, now what better way to get reacquainted than over a warm meal?” Hide asked, grinning as he clapped his hands together. At his words, Nina and Chinatsu entered the room and set down a covered pot and a large covered plate onto center of the table in front of us. 

“Good evening everyone! Thank you all for being so patient in your waiting. I very much hope you all enjoy my cooking, as it is an old recipe passed down my family. Unfortunately, there were a few ingredients missing, but my friend and assistant chef, Chinatsu, helped me to make a few substitutes.” With that said, Nina lifted the lid off of the pot, steam rising from the broth inside as our noses were treated to its heavenly smell. I could feel a bit of drool escaping my mouth as I took in the delicious aroma, finally becoming aware of how hungry I was. _Oh wow. Are we sure she's the ultimate hunter and not the ultimate cook?_

[FOR A MERE MORTAL I WILL ADMIT YOUR CULINARY SKILLS SEEM TO BE TOP NOTCH] Akiba typed out as he entered the room and peeked over my shoulder, causing me to jump slightly at his sudden appearance. 

_I seriously need to stop jumping at every single surprise,_ I thought as the smug technician smirked down at me before taking the unoccupied seat next to me.

“Oh, no, I am not that great,” Nina replied, waving off the compliment with her usual smile. “Besides, Chinatsu was quite capable of cooking a dish much better than mine.” 

“Heh. No need to be so modest, Nina,” Chinatsu said with a smile, before lifting the lid off her own plate, revealing about two dozen pork sandwiches stacked on top of each other in a little pyramid, the rich smell of barbeque filling the air. _Well, being trapped here may still be bad, but at least I can take the good parts as they come._

Everybody looked quite excited to start digging into the meal Chinatsu and Nina had prepared, though Tadashi seemed to be ignoring the sandwiches in favor of the stew that Nina was passing out in some big bowls. Though we couldn’t start eating just yet, no matter how good the food smelled.

“Uh, guys, we’re still missing a few people,” I spoke up, looking around the table. _Let’s see...me, Beatrice, Tadashi, Tetsu, Hideyoshi, Vito, Kiru, Nina, Chinatsu, Akiba-oh, right, Kimihito. Need to remember him. Still, that’s five missing._ “Right, Miyabi, Nobu, Kinute, Fuyumi and Kimiko aren’t here yet.”

“No need to worry,” Nobu said as he entered through the kitchen, followed by Kinute, both of them looking extremely uncomfortable with the other’s presence. “We’re here.”

“Two of you are,” Chinatsu noted. “Where are the other three?”

“In their rooms, I assume. I told Ms. Raito about the dinner, so I don’t know what she’s doing,” he explained, walking up to the table and picking up a plate. “As for the other two, I saw Ms. Oko and Ms. Bakudan head into Ms. Bakudan’s room, and then Ms. Oko exit the room, blatantly flustered.” He looked over at me, his expression completely neutral as he took a pork sandwich and put it on his plate. “I imagine something interesting happened then, so, please, ask Ms. Oko about it and let me enjoy dinner in peace.” _Oh that conniving son of a…_

I swear that complete prick grinned at me as he left, taking his sandwich and sitting at the table furthest away from us, leaving me with almost everybody staring at me, the only exceptions being Tetsu, who was still sulking, and, surprisingly, Vito, who seemed entirely focused on the food, a line of drool dripping down his chin.

“Ah...a-ahem,” I cleared my throat, trying to keep from blushing too brightly. “I-I’ll go see what’s taking the others so long. Ah, you guys just start eating, I’ll be back in a bit.” 

Standing up before anybody could stop me, I hurried into the kitchen, trying to ignore the amused grins a few of my fellow captives were sporting. I quickly made my way through the kitchen and into the lounge, and nearly knocked over Kimiko when I pushed through the doors.

“Oh, sorry-” “Ah, sorry about-” We both started, before staring at each other. 

Kimiko broke the silence first, grinning widely at me, the small flame of her lighter faintly illuminating her. “Oh, hey there Koko! Heh, sorry for nearly running into you, I was super distracted and wasn’t really thinking, y’know? Oh, hey, thanks for earlier by the way! I was having soooooo much trouble with my lighter and really really needed to get warmed up, so thanks!”

I stared at the pale girl, a bit stunned at her sudden complete turnaround in personality and energy. “Uh, you okay?” she suddenly asked, looking curiously at me.

“Eh? Oh, uh, yeah, I’m fine. Just, uh...thinking.”

“Ah, kay then. So?”

“...So what?”

“So you gonna answer my question? Well, my first one, not the second one about you being okay, since you answered that one.”

“...You asked a question? Er, a first question?”

“Yup! I asked what you were doing! And then you stared at me and said nothing,” she explained, rocking back and forth on her heels.

“Oh, right, right. Um, I was going to get you, Fuyumi, and Miyabi, since we’re about to have dinner and everybody’s waiting the dining hall. Or, well, eating now, I guess, since I told them to,” I told her, trying to keep my eyes on her face. _Should I mention what happened earlier? Does she even remember it? Or does she not care…?_

“Ah, thank you, thank you!” she replied, nodding happily. “Well no need to worry about me! I got my lighter, so I’m good to go. Oh, but you should definitely make sure to hurry up with Fuyu and Miya, or else you might miss out on the food!” Suddenly patting me on the head, Kimiko giggled cheerfully before walking past me. As she headed towards the cafeteria, I could feel my stomach grumble. _They better at least save me a sandwich…_

I sighed, before walking briskly into the…”hallway of rooms”, I guess, and stopping at Miyabi’s door, the fifth one on the right. Which was right next to mine. _Huh, guess we’re neighbors._

Shrugging at that thought, I rapped my knuckles against the door. After about three minutes, the door finally opened to reveal Miyabi in the process of putting her still wet hair up with a ribbon, now wearing a royal blue suit instead of her previous velvet red one. Also noticeably, her jacket was open, revealing the...very, uh...sheer blouse she was wearing underneath. Which...didn’t really do much to, well...conceal her chest. _...H-How is that bra not breaking…?_

I think I stared for about a minute before Miyabi finished tying her hair and coughed to get my attention, drawing my eyes away from her sizable chest to her piercing green eyes and irritated frown. “What do you want?” she asked, her eyes narrowed at me.

“S-Sorry to bother you!” I squeaked, my face burning as she scrutinized me. “I-I came by to tell you that, um, d-d-dinner is ready.” I grinned up at her, trying not to squirm as she kept staring at me.

“Hmm, it appears I may have taken too long with my bath,” she muttered, looking away from me as she adjusted her jacket, still not quite closing it. “Nonetheless, thank you for informing me. I shall be there shortly.” She nodded to me and started to close the door, but I spoke up before she could finish doing so.

“O-OH, I almost forgot,” I started, nearly freezing up as she looked back at me. Still, I managed to continue. “B-But, uh, thank you for helping me out earlier, after you know...the thing. A-At the stage, I mean...” 

I started fidgeting as Miyabi’s eyes stared down at me, the taller girl remaining silent as I kept speaking. “Beatrice told me that you helped get me to the dining hall, so...th-thank you. Again. Th-Thank you very much...” I bowed my head as I finished, trying not to look up as I could feel my face burning with embarrassment. Thankfully, before the silence could stretch on too long, I heard the surprising sound of Miyabi giggling, her laughter quiet and almost melodious.

“Well, you are very welcome,” she replied, before cupping my chin and lifting my head up so my eyes met hers. “You know, maybe getting stuck here isn't so bad when there’s a cutie like you around~.” _Okay, yup, this is happening now. My face is on fire and sexy lady is flirting with me. Red alert, duck and cover, initiate evacuation now now now._

Before I could start sprinting down the hall in the opposite direction, Miyabi spoke up again. “Well, thank you again for informing me about dinner. I will see you back at the cafeteria once I finished drying my hair.” She smiled at me, a sight that set my heart fluttering, and then leaned in with a playful grin. “Oh and please, don't mention what I said here to anyone else okay? It'll be our little secret.” Still smiling softly, she gave me a quick wink, before finally closing the door.

“Y-Yeah,” I said to the closed door, before stumbling back and gasping as I tried to regain my composure. Taking a few deep breaths, I started walking down the hallway, my legs feeling like jelly as I reached the end of the hallway, where Fuyumi’s room was. _Eighth on the right…_

Once I actually got to her door, I took a few deep breaths to try to calm myself down. I was about to knock before the door actually opened, Fuyumi staring at me with her usual nervous look.

“C-Can I help you?” Fuyumi asked meekly, biting on her thumbnail as she pressed her other arm against her chest, kinda like she was hugging herself. _This girl is supposed to be the ultimate lawyer?_

“Uh, hey there Fuyumi,” I started, trying to smile reassuringly. “I came by to see if you're okay. Dinner started and everyone was wondering where you were.” _At least she probably won’t start flirting with me. ...Probably._

“O-Oh...S-S-Sorry, I'm not used to eating with strangers,” she explained, staring down like she was trying to avoid my eyes. “A-And that’s without c-considering how Ch-Chinatsu seems to dislike me…” Looking at the clearly upset girl, I couldn’t help feeling a pang of sympathy for her.

“Hey, it’s alright,” I said, keeping my voice soft and gentle. “I'm sure she’s not angry at you specifically. She’s probably just had some bad experiences with lawyers in, y’know, her line of work.” I shrugged, before an idea hit me. “Actually, if it helps I could sit with you while we're eating.” Putting on a gentle smile, I stuck my hand out so Fuyumi can grab it. 

Fuyumi stared at my hand in visible surprise, before shakily reaching out and taking it, smiling nervously at me. “Th-Thank you.”

“Heh, no problem,” I replied, now smiling much more casually. “Alright, let’s get going before they eat everything.”

“W-Would they do that?” Fuyumi asked as I started walking with her down the hall, biting her lip nervously.

“Heh, nah, I’m sure they saved some stuff for us,” I assured, inwardly frowning, but outwardly smiling. _At least they better hope they did. I’m freaking starving…_

\---:---

Luckily for me, and for the rest of our group, they actually did save some food for us. Quite a bit of food for us, actually, considering there were still about a dozen sandwiches left and the pot was still more than half full.

I raised an eyebrow as I took in the sight of my groaning friends, a few of them looking exhausted and full while the others all seemed to be doing their own thing. Hideyoshi was chatting happily with Chinatsu, the yakuza looking quite interested in some mafia movie he was rambling on about; meanwhile, Tadashi looked impeccable as ever, his bowl completely empty aside from the stray droplet of soup while Kimiko eagerly dug into her own bowl next to him, spilling a bit of soup on her t-shirt. Off in the corner, Nobu was still on that same pork sandwich he got earlier, reading a book with his free hand while Kinute sat at the table opposite of him, using chopsticks to fiddle with her own bowl of broth. Finally, Nina was smiling as cheerfully as always and humming another little tune as she filled up another bowl of broth, six more stacked up on her side in a little tower.

“Uuuugh...Signorina, I-I very much appreciate your-urp...d-delicious cooking, but I-I don’t think I can eat another...uggh…” Vito groaned, laying his head on the table, four bowls surrounding him.

“Oh, do not worry, this one is for me, Vittorio,” Nina explained, idly patting Vito on the head before she noticed us, her smile widening. “Oh! Atsuko and Fuyumi, welcome! You missed the eating contest.”

“Eating contest?” I asked, glancing around at the moaning people, eight bowls stacked around Tetsu, three by Beatrice, three by Kiru, another four by Akiba, and a few others just kind of scattered around- _Oh, wait, two of those are Kimihito’s...Why is he under the table?_

“Ah, yes. These silly people decided to make a competition of eating their food, due to Beatrice suggesting so to Tetsu, and Akiba appeared quite interested in ‘proving his superiority’, though I think he failed on that account,” Nina explained, ignoring how Akiba promptly flipped her off before his arm flopped down onto his stomach again. “The others were, um...brought along into it?”

“Dragged into it?”

“Ah, yes, right, that is the phrase.” Nina nodded, before cocking her head. “Is that Fuyumi behind you?”

“Huh?” I glanced behind me, finally noticing that Fuyumi had apparently stepped behind me when we entered, the shy girl hugging herself as she hid herself. “Um...yeah, it is.” Deciding not to draw more attention to her, I turned back to the confused looking Swiss girl. “Anyway, we’re just going to get dinner, okay? No eating contest for us.”

“Oh, yes, feel freely to get your food,” Nina said, taking her seat again. “Please, enjoy! I think I may have made a little too much food, but at least we shall have leftovers, yes?”

“Yeah, sure,” I agreed, before taking Fuyumi’s hand again and leading her over to the food, deliberately not looking back as I heard the kitchen doors move again as Miyabi entered. _I think I’ll melt into a puddle if I have to look her in the eyes again._

Finally, Fuyumi and I got our food, sat down at the table, next to each other like I promised, and got to have dinner, the shy girl gradually looking more comfortable as I kept her company, though she did seem to be deliberately keeping me between her and Chinatsu. Honestly, sitting with each other like this, everybody enjoying themselves, it was almost enough to forget the horror show we were all forced to see earlier today. Things actually felt like they might turn out alright…

That feeling...The optimistic ideal that we would all make it out of this situation alright and unharmed…

It didn’t last.

 **SIXTEEN CONTESTANTS REMAIN**  
\---:---  
**E-Handbook Rules**  
**Rule 1** : Contestants must remain within the casino for the duration of the competition. Attempts to escape will be met with an acceptable level of force to dissuade further attempts.  
**Rule 2** : Night begins at 10PM, and last until 7AM. Certain designated areas are off-limits at night, and many systems will be shut off for the duration of nighttime. Contestants should ensure that they are aware of these areas and system limits to avoid issues.  
**Rule 3** : Contestants are only allowed to sleep in designated sleeping quarters. Check areas for markings denoting a “sleeping zone” before attempting to rest.  
**Rule 4** : With minimal restrictions, contestants are allowed to explore the Palace of Gold at their discretion. Be aware of restricted areas, and do not attempt to access them without prior permission.  
**Rule 5** : Violence against Game Master Kinkuma is strictly prohibited, as is the deliberate destruction of surveillance cameras and monitors.  
**Rule 6** : Contestants are not allowed to deliberately tamper with the e-handbook in order to damage it/discover possible unknown functions. Tampering with the e-handbooks is grounds for immediate punishment, to be decided at Game Master Kinkuma’s discretion.  
**Rule 7** : Any contestant who successfully murders a fellow contestant will become “blackened”, and will be allowed to leave the casino if they are not discovered. A maximum of two murders per incident is in place at all times, and breaching that restriction is grounds for immediate exposure and execution.  
**Rule 8** : Once a murder takes place, the Body Discovery Announcement will occur after the body has been found by a minimum of three non-blackened contestants.  
**Rule 9** : After the Body Discovery Announcement, a trial will begin shortly after a period of investigation. Participation in the trial is mandatory for all surviving contestants. Failure to attend will result in punishment, to be decided at Game Master Kinkuma’s discretion.  
**Rule 10** : If a blackened contestant is proven guilty, they alone will be executed for their crimes.  
**Rule 11** : If a blackened contestant is not exposed during the trial, they will win the game and be allowed to leave. All other contestants will be executed for failure to enact justice.  
**Last Rule** : More rules may be added at any point by the Game Master. Be sure to have fun. :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Just a bit of a calm, happy times before the bad stuff starts happening again. The first motivation happens next chapter. Feel free to guess what it could be.


	3. Sticks, Carrots, and Slightly Sharper Sticks

**Chapter 3** :

“GOOD MORNING EVERYONE,” Kinkuma’s annoying voice sounded out, immediately jolting me out of my peaceful sleep. As I jerked upwards, I could feel a small pang of pain in my stomach. _Ugh...definitely shouldn't have gotten thirds…_

“-ooking forward to seeing one of you die today! So get to it already!” On that disturbing note, the speakers finally turned off, and I sunk down against the bed again, the cold reality of where I was settling over me again.

“Did he have to be so loud…?” I muttered, before finally sitting up. As I yawned and stretched out, I finally noticed I had fallen asleep in my uniform, probably since I’d been way too tired to get out of it last night after the big dinner we all had.

 _Ugh, I really should change out of this._ I thought as I climbed out of bed. Taking off my blazer and setting it down on my bed, I began to unbutton my shirt before remembering I still hadn’t covered the camera in my room. _Ah, did I mention that detail to everyone last night? Something to do later, I guess._

Grabbing my blazer again, I got up on my desk chair and tied the garment around the camera to block Kinkuma’s sight. Once that was done, I went over and checked my clothes drawer, unbuttoning my shirt as I walked to it and looked inside. _...It’s all copies of my uniform. Well guess that makes changing easy._ Once I undressed, I grabbed a new set of clothing and underwear and headed into the bathroom to take a shower. 

\---:---

 _I really hope I don't have to worry about this running out._ I thought as I put the concealer back in the mirror cabinet. I checked my roots again, making sure no hint of orange was showing, before dropping my towel and getting dressed. Once I headed out of the bathroom, I paused and stared at my desk, recalling what Kinkuma had mentioned yesterday.

 _Hmm…_ Going over to my desk, I opened up each drawer on it to see if there was anything else hidden inside. Sure enough, I found a little golcoin hidden in the bottom drawer, smirking as I looked at the demented bear’s grinning face on it. “Ah, there you are. Heh, I’m smarter than you think, you little prick.” Pocketing the coin in my blazer, I smoothed out my clothes before heading out. 

I headed down the hallway and into the lounge, and immediately noticed Tetsu digging around in the rightmost couch. “Dammit it all...how am I going to avenge myself if I can’t find any of those blasted-Oh, hello Atsuko,” he greeted, his arm still between couch cushions.

“Uh, hi Tetsu. What are you doing?”

“Ah, well, I’m trying to find any golcoins. The e-handbook hint section states that they are hidden all throughout the casino. Unfortunately, I have had little luck,” he muttered, before looking up at me again, his gray eyes sparkling brightly. It actually looked pretty weird, especially with his beard... “Actually, you wouldn’t happen to have found any, would you?”

“...Uh. No, sorry, I haven’t found any either. Um, best of luck searching though.”

“Ah, shame. Well, thank you Atsuko. Be careful with those slot machines though, they are incredibly cunning,” he replied, trailing off into muttering as he glared at the couch. _Right, okay then. Better not get in his way, he seems really determined._

Saying goodbye to Tetsu, I next headed into the kitchen where Kimihito and Tadashi were busy washing the dishes from last night, Tadashi wearing an apron, while Kimihito had taken off his blazer to avoid getting it wet, both guys working with their sleeves rolled up.

“Heh, last night sure was lively, huh Tadashi?” Kimihito asked as he dried the dishes, looking more at ease than usual. “I still can't believe there was leftovers after that eating contest...” 

“Yes, it is a fair surprise. At the rate Tetsu and Nina were eating, I was sure there would be nothing left.” Tadashi chuckled as he scrubbed the dirty dishes, clearly smiling under his surgical mask as he continued speaking. “And yes, last night was quite fun.” 

Smiling at how they were getting along, I decided to leave them to their conversation, quietly grabbing an apple from the fridge before sneaking out of the kitchen and into the cafeteria. 

Taking a bite out of my apple as I entered the cafeteria, I spot Fuyumi by herself, eating some of the leftover stew from last night. As she glanced up at me, I waved to her, getting a shy semi-wave in return.

“G-Good morning Atsuko,” Fuyumi spoke up, her voice soft and shaky as she smiled up at me.

“Morning Fuyumi!” I replied, grinning back at the shy girl. “Are you up to anything today?”

“O-Oh, um...not really. I, uh, might just go look around later, I suppose…” She shrugs, staring down at her stew. “Wouldn’t be good to have no idea what this place looks like…”

“Oh, alright then. Uh, do you want to meet up later then? We could talk about what we found,” I suggested. _This girl really looks like she needs some friends...Not that I’m one to talk._

Thankfully, it seemed like my suggestion was a good one by how she smiled up at me. “S-Sure, I would l-like that...th-thank you.” _...Why are all the girls here so cute???_

“R-Right. Ah, see you, at, uh...any time in particular?”

“Um...one PM, perhaps?”

“Yeah! Yeah, that totally works. If we don’t see each other at lunch, I mean. Well, we could still talk at lunch, and meet up again later. If that works, I, uh. Mean.” I grinned awkwardly as Fuyumi gave me a confused look. “Well I’ll see you later!”

Heading right out of the dining hall and into the main area of the casino, I promptly took a deep breath and a bite of my apple, sincerely hoping Fuyumi didn’t think I was an idiot for screwing up so badly at speaking. Though my attention was promptly drawn away from that line of thought when I heard Vito yelling.

“On twenty three, you need to put it on twenty three!” Vito shouted/suggested, apparently playing the roulette machine with Hideyoshi. And playing pretty well, judging by the bucketful of coins by the two boys.

Meanwhile, sitting at one of the poker tables was Nina, Chinatsu, and Kiru, the three of them playing some card game with Nina as the dealer. “Hello Atsuko!” Nina greeted me with a warm smile, waving at me before continuing to pass out the cards. “We are playing twenty-one together. Would you like to join? Though if you do, I first must warn you that Chinatsu has had a very long winning streak.”

At her words, the yakuza in question smirked and raised a hand in greeting, a king already face up on her side. “Don’t worry, we’re not betting anything. Yet, at least.”

“Ugh, please no,” Kiru muttered, frowning at his own two cards, a six face up in front of him. “I’d get cleaned out so quickly…”

“Heh. Ah, maybe later?” I replied, looking around the rest of the casino.

“Aw, shame. While it is fun playing with three people, more is merrier, yes?” Nina said, smiling at me. “Unfortunately, we have had little luck getting more players to join.”

“Probably because Chinatsu is terrifying,” Kiru pointed out, raising an eyebrow at Chinatus, who gave him a sharp-toothed smile in return.

“Then why are you playing?” I asked.

“Because Hideyoshi decided he’s friends with me and dragged me along,” Kiru explained, glancing at the actor as he and Vito started cheering again, more coins spilling from the machine. “So I decided to stick by these two since they’re quieter.”

“Ah. And Hideyoshi didn’t want to join in too?”

“No, he seems to want as many golcoins as possible, for some reason. I guess there’s stuff at the Court that he wants.” Kiru shrugged, propping his head up on one hand. “And Vito didn’t want to join unless these two were willing to bet clothing.” _...Hold on, what?_

“Ah, yep, that was Vittorio’s condition for joining,” Nina agreed, nodding. “Apparently I am very cute, and Chinatsu is sexy in an intimidating manner, so he wished to, ah...see more of us?”

“Yeah, that’s what he said,” Chinatsu spoke up, an annoyed frown on her face. “I think you can guess what our reply was.” _Considering how he’s not over here, yeah, it’s kind of obvious. Though, if they had agreed...Okay, no, do not go down that line of thought._

“R-Right, well, uh, you guys have fun,” I said, waving goodbye to them as I headed through the main area of the casino, passing by a loudly cheering Vito as Hide apparently won again. As I neared the stage, I couldn’t help but glance at the gallows where the “example” had been hanged and skewered. The body wasn’t there anymore, and the stage was completely clean now. Almost like it didn’t happen at all. _But that was way too real…_

I shuddered, trying not to look at the stage as I headed into the Court of Coins. The interior of the “court” actually looked like a nice little shop, if with the usual gaudy gold decor. There were tons of items lining the shelves all around the room, ranging from books and toys to candy and...cans of paint. Huh.

There were a bunch of other miscellaneous items up on the shelves, which were, of fucking course, made of mahogany, but what really drew my attention was the sparkly pink and gold vending machine emblazoned with Kinkuma’s logo placed up against the far wall, right next to a smaller green and gold capsule machine labeled “Golmachine”. 

_Huh. So what are you two here for…?_ I stepped up the vending machine and started looking it over, before grabbing my e-handbook from my blazer’s pocket. _Let’s see what info you have...Alright, Court of Coins. “An item shop designed for the contestants to use in buying neat mementos and souvenirs. Use your golcoins with either the vending machine or golmachine to buy items. The vending machine allows contestants to buy items directly for large sums, while the golmachine gives out random prizes for only one golcoin. Spend them wisely! :)” Why do all his instructions end with that creepy smile?_

Looking up at the two machines, I did the only thing I really could do and stuck a coin in the capsule machine-er, golmachine, and turned its crank. The thing lit up and the capsules inside starting rattling around, before it suddenly spit out a small black capsule, leaving me scrambling to catch it as it flew out against my chest. I huffed in annoyance, before opening it up and getting a little slip of paper with a little barcode on it.

I raised an eyebrow at it, then noticed the little scanner on the front of the vending machine. _Why is this so complicated?_ I thought, before presenting the paper the scanner. Finally, the stupid machine made a rattling sound and deposited the prize I won. And said prize was...a book. An actually kind of creepy black book with a smiling metal face on the front, titled “Grimoire Noir”. _...Huh. Maybe Beatrice would like it. Actually, where is she right now?_

Holding the book under one arm, its face facing away from me, I headed out of the “court” into the main area, looking around to see if Beatrice was up yet. _I suppose it is still early. Might be late sleeper...Guess I’ll check the dining hall first-_

“Are you looking for someone?” I immediately stiffened as an unfamiliar voice spoke up behind me, turning to face- _Oh, wait, it’s just Kimihito. Wait, what? How the hell did he get behind me?!_

“H-Hey there Kimihito. Um, yeah, I was looking for Beatrice, since I got this book that I thought she might like. From the Court. Uh, court of coins. That one over there.” I grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of my head with my free hand. “So, uh, how’re you doing?”

“Oh, I’m doing fine. Tadashi and I finished up cleaning a little while ago, so I decided to look around out here. We were talking for a bit, and I think we’re getting along pretty well.” He grins, mimicking my sheepish head rubbing. “Heh, guess I’m having a lucky day. I even found one of those golcoins in the kitchen, so I’m thinking of checking out the court-”

Kimihito was suddenly cut off as a familiar shock of short black hair appeared in front of me. “Kimihito! I beg of you to give me that coin so I may avenge myself!” Tetsu bowed deeply as he requested the coin, the shorter bearded man seemingly manifesting out of thin air. _...I probably shouldn’t let him see the book._

Luckily, a distraction was present in the form of a blatantly surprised and confused Kimihito, the historian slowly backing away from Tetsu, only for the fighter to straighten up and clasp his hands together. “Please, I beg of you! I need just one coin to defeat these nefarious machines, and Vittorio and Hideyoshi refuse to share their winnings! I promise to share the spoils of my victory with you!” _Right, good luck with that, Kimihito. You’ll be in my thoughts._

Making a tactical retreat, I promptly headed right for the cafeteria, then immediately turned right back around and out of there when I saw Miyabi again, the seamstress now wearing an emerald green suit. _Nope, nope, nope, not dealing with that today. Wait, how is it that she gets different outfits while I’m stuck with my uniform?_

Filing that question away for later, I made my way towards the hallway of rooms by cutting through the lounge, where Kimko and Tadashi seemed to be hanging out, Kimiko regaling Tadashi with tales of the huge fireworks shows she’d put on and the details behind setting them up while he just sort of nodded along.

“-and most people don’t really think about how you get all the pretty colors but it actually costs a whole lot of money to get the proper compounds to get nice shades and you really gotta know your chemistry, y’know? Like potassium and rubidium nitrates will get entirely different shades of violet-” Kimiko was explaining, waving around her lighter for emphasis before she noticed me. “Oh hey Koko! Ah, I can call you Koko, right? Cause Beatrice was calling you that yesterday, I noticed, and it seems like a really cute nickname but Tadashi gets huffy when I call him Dashi-”

“I don’t get huffy,” Tadashi huffed. “Anyway, what’s with the book?”

“Er, just a present I got from the court of coins. I was thinking of giving it to Beatrice, since it kinda looks like her style,” I explained. Both Tadashi and Kimiko let out a little “ah” sound at that, before glancing at each other with...some weird look.

“Right then. Well, don’t let us keep you,” Tadashi said, his voice sounding oddly amused.

“Heh, have fun with her! Or, well, uh...no, wait, that’s too on the nose…” Kimiko trailed off, staring at her lighter’s flame as she tried to think of something. Rather than wait for her to say something else weird, I just headed into the hallway of rooms, leaving those two to...whatever they were doing.

I found Beatrice’s room pretty quickly, since it was the first one on the right, and rapped my knuckles against its door. And then I had to wait a bit. After a while, I brought my hand up to knock again, only for it to open before I could.

“What d’ya wa-” Beatrice started, an irritated frown on her face, before she noticed who I was and promptly perked up. “Oh, hey Koko! Sorry, didn’t know it was you.” She grinned at me, then yawned, rubbing at her eyes. “Eh, sorry, I’m kinda a late sleeper and that announcement earlier woke me up…”

“Oh, it’s okay. Sorry for bothering you,” I apologized, taking in the kinda cute sight of the sleepy mage. Her normally straight green hair was pretty messy and she was wearing a black t-shirt and purple pajama pants with little black skulls printed on them instead of her cloak and uniform. “I did want to talk to you, but I can wait until you’re more awake. And, uh, changed out of your pjs.”

I was about to leave when she grabbed my free hand and suddenly yanked me into her room. 

“Nonsense! We can talk in my room just fine,” she stated firmly, a silly grin on her face. _Well this is happening now._

I rolled my eyes at her antics, but closed the door behind me anyway, before taking a look around the room. Beatrice’s bedroom was pretty much identical to mine and Kimiko’s, though I could see a number of weird looking books scattered around her desk, her hat and cloak resting on her desk chair. Her staff was also present, leaning against the wall by her bed. _She really should set that down more safely. It looks like it would break if it fell over._

Glancing up at the corners of the room, I spotted the camera every bedroom had, its lense wrapped in a shirt. _Oh good, that means I did tell everyone._ I grinned at the sight, imagining Kinkuma’s frustration, before turning to Beatrice. And then I immediately looked away when I saw her starting to pull her shirt off. 

“I-I think I'll wait outside!” I definitely did not squeak, trying not to look at Beatrice as she undressed, only to stop right in my tracks when I heard her giggling. Turning back, I could see Beatrice collapsed on her bed, one hand around her mouth and one on her belly, trying to muffle her laughter while holding her stomach.

“S-Sor-ahahahahaha-Sorry! I-I couldn't s-stop myself,” she tried to apologize, breaking off into giggles again when she caught a glimpse of my unamused face. I huffed in annoyance, taking a seat in her desk chair while I waited for her to stop giggling. Eventually, she did.

“S-So what did you need?” Beatrice finally asked as her laughter died down, sitting up on her bed with a goofy grin, her eyes still alight with laughter.

I frowned at her, before smirking. “Weeeell, I did find this interesting book at the court of coins that I did think you would like,” I began, holding up the book in question and smiling wider when Beatrice immediately froze, her eyes locked on the book’s cover. “But I suppose if you’re too busy with your new career in comedy, I could give it to someone else. Do you think Kiru would like it more?”

“NO!” she immediately shouted, then clamped her hands over her mouth, a noticeable blush on her face. She slowly lowered them, pouting at me as I giggled at her overly upset expression. “Okay, um, please don’t give that book to anyone else. I would really really really really like it and I super duper cross my heart promise that I will not tease you again if you give me it! Pleeaaaaaaase?”

I giggled again at the pleading expression she had, her eyes wide and teary, before getting up and handing the book to her. She immediately squealed in delight, clutching the tome to her chest, then looked up at me again, a really wide smile on her face. “Seriously, thank you so much for this!”

“Hey, it’s no problem-” I was about to say, before she suddenly kissed me on the cheek. And then I think my brain short-circuited for a bit there. I think about a minute passed because the next thing I noticed was Beatrice sitting cross-legged on her bed, her eyes scanning the pages of her new book. _...That happened._

“...Glad you like your new book,” I mumbled, still a bit dazed. Beatrice muttered something back in response, apparently completely focused on her new book, and I took that as my cue to leave, walking over to her door and heading out again. And then I leaned back against the door and clasped my hands to my face, sincerely hoping nobody could see the enormous blush I was sporting.

“Well hello Atsuko,” Nobu said, looking curiously at me. _Son of a bitch._

“Hi Nobu,” I muttered through my hands.

“So. First Kimiko, now Beatrice? Interesting type you seem to have.” _Nobu I will eat your notepad._

“Uuuugh…” I sighed, sliding down the door slightly before glancing up at him. “So what are you up to?”

“Oh, now you’re going for me? Dear me, I should warn the others. Clearly we all need to be aware of this danger to our virtues.” _I wonder if Kimiko would help me burn his stuff…_

“You know what I mean.”

“Well, I was planning on getting breakfast, if that’s what you meant,” he stated in his ever present deadpan. “That is what people normally do in the morning. Rather than meeting up with girls in their rooms-”

“Nobu.”

“Fine, fine, I’ll stop. Though perhaps I should ask Miyabi and Fuyumi about their interactions with you yesterday-”

“ _Nobu._ ”

He finally laughed at that, a rough little chuckle escaping his mouth as he strode past me. “Have a nice morning, Atsuko.”

“Ugh...you too, Nobu.” _Right, well, I still have quite a bit of time until I have to meet up with Fuyumi...Maybe I should join Chinatsu, Nina, and Kiru’s game? Might as well...Nothing else going on right now._

Pushing myself off of the doorway, I made my way back to the main area through the lounge, ignoring Tadashi and Kimiko’s amused grins as I walked past them, my face still slightly flushed from before. 

As I entered the casino floor, I was immediately greeted by the sound of Akiba’s synthesized voice. [BULLSHIT! I CALL BS! THERE’S NO WAY YOU CAN BE WINNING SO MUCH WITHOUT CHEATING!] _...Maybe this was a bad plan._

Apparently the technician had decided to join up with the trio’s card game at some point, judging by how he was standing by the table, his hands slammed against its surface, glaring at a very amused looking Chinatsu.

“Oh? You think I’m cheating?” Chinatsu asked, her sharp teeth glinting maliciously. “That’s quite the accusation. Are you sure you’re not just upset that a ‘lesser being’ is kicking your ass?”

“Told you not to be so confident,” Kiru muttered, staring down at his cards, two nine’s and a ten face up on the table.

“I’m guessing Chinatsu’s still winning,” I said as I walked up to the table, getting everyone's attention on me. “Hey everybody. Uh, is the offer from earlier still open? To join in, I mean.”

“Of course it is! More is always merrier!” Nina replied cheerfully, waiting for me to take a seat between Kiru and Akiba before she started passing out the cards again.

“Actually, I think I’m done for now,” Chinatsu spoke up, standing up from the table and tossing her cards back to Nina, who caught them easily. “I’m going to check out the other machines for now. Best of luck, Atsuko. Though you might not need it.” She smirked at Akiba and Kiru. “These two are pretty terrible.”

As she walked away, I was treated to the sound of a computer sputtering indignantly as Akiba glared at Chinatsu, the tall boy pouting dramatically as he took a seat. Kiru, meanwhile, seemed more relieved than annoyed, sighing as he sunk back in his seat.

“Please don’t tell me you have the devil’s luck too,” he requested, staring at me with clear exhaustion.

“Guess you’ll have to find out,” I replied, grinning as he groaned. Nina giggled at our antics, before announcing the start of the round, or whatever it’s called with cards. Let the game begin!

\----:----

Turns out I wasn’t quite as good at cards as I thought I would be, but I did spend a fun couple hours chatting with Nina, Kiru, and Akiba as I failed at the various card games she suggested. Finally, as lunchtime came around, I made my way to meet up with Fuyumi, who was already there by the time I arrived, reading a book as she sat alone.

“Hey Fuyu!” I greeted as I walked up, receiving a little “eep” of surprise as Fuyumi noticed me. “Heh, sorry if I startled you. I hope I didn’t make you wait too long.” I took a seat across from her, smiling in what I sincerely hoped was a comforting way.

“O-Oh, no, I-I’ve only been here a few minutes, Atsuko,” she replied as she set her book down. She smiled shakily back, adjusting her glasses when they started to slip down her nose. “H-How has your day been?”

“Heh, just fine so far,” I responded. “I’ve mostly been talking to people so far. Played some card games with Nina, Kiru, and Akiba too. They’re actually a lot of fun, so maybe you could join in with us next time?” _Right, that didn’t sound awkward at all…_

“U-Um...W-While I am sure you did enjoy yourself, Atsuko, I a-am going to have to decline. I-I’m not sure it’s a good idea to get together like that…” I raised an eyebrow as she trailed off, looking nervous and flustered. “I-I...I-I d-don’t, um, t-trust people that easily, I know that, but...I don’t think I’m wrong in thinking that we really should be more careful around here. Y-You did hear Kinkuma yesterday? A-And his announcement this morning?”

At my cautious nod, she continued. “S-Supposedly the only way to leave this place is to...m-murder one of the other members of our group here. And we know that is the outcome that Kinkuma favors, based on his words and actions. Even if everybody seems to be getting along, we can’t see or hear each other’s thoughts. It only takes one person getting desperate, getting pushed too far...Y-You can understand why I’m worried, right?”

“...Yeah, I can understand your worries,” I replied after a long pause. “But I don’t think I agree. Thoughts like those...they’re just going to make us paranoid, I think. As long as we feel comfortable around each other and we’re willing to at least trust that none of us would go along with that psychotic bear’s wishes, we should be okay.”

“A-Are you sure?” Fuyumi asked, still looking incredibly nervous. “I-I mean...Tetsu outright admitted that he’s killed people before, and then there’s Chinatsu who’s an open criminal. N-Not to mention how Kinute doesn’t seem to like anyone here or-”

I put a hand on Fuyumi’s shoulder, smiling reassuringly at her. “Hey, don’t worry. Trusting others can be hard, I know, but it’ll help more in the long run than getting paranoid and playing right into the bear’s hands.”

Fuyumi stared at me for about a minute, her brown eyes alight with worry, before she finally smiled back, still visibly worried but at least a little less so. “O-Okay. I-I suppose I can trust you… But, please, be careful, okay? I...I don’t want my first friend to get hurt…”

I could feel heart warming up from her words, my grin getting wider. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. For now, why don’t we get something to eat?” I stood up, offering a hand to her. Once she took it, her grip surprisingly steady, we headed to the kitchen to get some food for lunch.

And, despite her warning, nothing really happened for the rest of the day. After lunch, I talked with Fuyumi some more, then went around and checked out more of the casino. The two remaining rooms, the laundry room and waste disposal room, were actually kind of unusual in just how ordinary they looked in comparison to the rest of the casino. Beige and grey walls instead of rich colors covered in gold, no real decorations to speak of aside from a ceiling fan in the laundry room, and, thankfully, no mahogany anywhere. 

All that was really there in the laundry room were eight washing machines that formed a little rectangle in the center and dryers that were lined up around the walls. Well, that’s not entirely accurate. Somebody, probably Kinkuma, had left an open toolbox up on one of the washing machines and some of its tools, like a power drill and a large wrench, were scattered around over the other washers. Meanwhile, the trash disposal room consisted of a large incinerator and three trash chutes labeled “waste”, “compost”, and “recycling”. _Who knew Kinkuma was environmentally conscious?_

Said chutes were all locked, the keys apparently provided to whoever was on trash duty, a little schedule by the incinerator designating who was in charge of that. The incinerator, though, was unlocked, and easily opened.

Anyway, the rest of my day passed without event. I walked around, I talked to people, and I played a couple of the casino games. Things actually seemed pretty normal for a while, despite the weird circumstances we found ourselves in. The next day even passed about the same, no real issues or incidents to speak of, aside from Tetsu’s constant losing streak at any casino game he tried. So, of course, it had to be our fourth day here that things went to shit again, kicked off by Kinkuma calling us all together for another meeting at the stage.

\----:---- 

“Okay, okay, I’m not mad at you guys,” Kinkuma started once we’d all gathered at the stage, the weird bear holding his arms behind his back. “But I am disappointed. Really really really disappointed. I mean COME ON!”

We all jerked back slightly as he suddenly started shouting. “IT’S NOT THAT HARD, PEOPLE! I asked you guys to kill someone. I made it very very clear that I wanted someone dead, didn’t I? It doesn’t have to be any grand thing, y’know? Just, y’know, stabby stabby, cutsy cutsy, chop their head off or bash their brains in! The human body is super fragile! You could probably kill someone with a pair of scissors! And yet, no deaths.”

He sighed dramatically, putting one of his hands (paws?) on his forehead and pretending to swoon. “I really thought you complete scum of the earth would start eating each other alive the second you realized that I was holding you here with no chance of escape. Wasn’t the whole demonstration with the example good enough? But nope, you guys just shoved it right out of your minds in favor of having eating contests and covering my camera’s up. Which I’m mad about, by the way, but it isn’t technically against the rules so whatever.” He waved his hand dismissively, before staring out at us, his grin seeming to get wider.

“Luckily for you guys, I’m generous. So, since escape apparently isn’t motivation enough for you all, I’m going to give you a new one. Why, I’ll even give you three! Firstly-”

“J-Just stop,” somebody suddenly spoke up. I glanced back, and was honestly surprised to see Kimihito glaring up at the stage, his hands clenched into fists. “St-Stop telling us to murder each other! We’re not pawns in your stupid game, we’re human beings!” _...The hell? When did he get a backbone?_ “And you can’t just-”

Suddenly, a spear jutted up from the floor in front of Kimihito, its point about an inch from his nose. He immediately fell back with a whimper of fear, staring up at the stage with wide eyes as Kinkuma smirked back at him. 

“You good?” the bear asked, his voice low and amused. “Right! Now that dumb objections are out of the way, to the motivations! Or, as I like to call them, the stick, the carrot, and the slightly sharper stick. First and foremost, how’re you guys liking the food here?”

I think we all paused at that one, confusion clear on our faces. “It’s...good?” Tadashi spoke up, obviously bewildered.

“Nice! Glad you all like it, because you’re not going to get to have as many meals like that from this point on. Or, well, you could, but you’d run out of food pretty quickly.” _What?_

“Uh, what?” Tadashi asked, apparently right back into his role as group spokesman.

“What? You don’t really think I’d have infinite food here, do you?” Kinkuma asked back, clearly sounding amused. “Now, if you all rationed carefully and tried your very damndest not to eat everything between the sixteen of you, you might, just might, manage to have about...two or three months’ worth of food. But only about a month’s worth does sound a bit more likely. After all, you youngsters like to eat a lot, right?”

“One moment, please,” Nina suddenly said, frowning up at the stage. “Are you implying that we might very well starve to death in this place?”

“Eh, maybe?” Kinkuma replied, shrugging. “Depends on a whole lot of factors. Could be that I’m lying about the entire food situation, could be that I’m lying about the amount of food. Could have more, could have less. You could even wind up with less mouths to feed as things go on. It all depends, y’know? But no time to digest that bit of news!” _...Was that a pun?_

“Because now we have the part that I think you’d all like better. Namely, every one of you has a unique opportunity here. Whoever wins this little contest, meaning the last one standing, gets one wish.”

“A wish?” I mumbled, only to stiffen when the spotlight turned on me.

“YEP! One wish, anything your heart desires, and I’ll get it for you. Want riches? Love? Revenge? Anything, you name it, and I’ll do my very damndest to give it to you. You just can’t ask for me to bring somebody back from the dead, since I don’t know how that whole necromancy thing works at all. Ask the mage, I guess.”

“Anything?” Kinute suddenly said, her hands fidgeting as she stared intensely up at the bear on the stage. “Anything we want at all?”

“Aside from resurrection, sure!” Kinkuma replied, chuckling to himself. “Why, you could even request one person here gets out instead of you. Y’know, for you self-sacrificing love-martyr types. No asking for everyone to escape though, that’s just dumb.”

One wish. Anything we wanted? I could feel it as Kinkuma’s words sunk in and everybody, even me, actually considered just what he was saying. We didn’t really know how much influence this bear had, or if he could live up to his promises, but...hearing someone say they could give you anything in the world you wanted...That was really tempting.

“Of course,” Kinkuma continued, crossing his arms over his chest. “If that’s not enough, I do have that last bit of motivation to show all of you. It’s the sharper stick, for those of you who can’t figure out metaphors.”

“That wasn’t a metaphor,” I mumbled, before stiffening as the bear turned his gaze on me, his smile somehow seeming agitated.

“ANYWAY! Here’s the last motive, for now at least. Your talents.”

A confused silence followed his pronouncement, all of us glancing at each other as we tried to figure out what that meant.

“Mr. Kinkuma, what does that mean?” Hideyoshi did the obvious and just asked.

“Eh? Oh, right, that would be kinda vague, wouldn’t it? Not your fancy, kid friendly titles for the Hopely Peakersons. No, your true talents,” the bear explained, his voice going low once again. “Your ‘Criminal Talents’.” At his words, the screen above him suddenly flashed with white letters, spelling out “ **THE CRIMINAL TALENTS** ”. _What? What the hell is he...No, wait...He couldn’t…_

“You see, every single one of you have done something awful in your short, stupid little lives,” Kinkuma started up again, his gold eye gleaming with sadistic joy. “And those awful things are now going to be put on display, right here, right now. Try not to panic when you see yours.”

At his words, the screen suddenly flashed, new words appearing on it. 

****

**THE ULTIMATE KILLER.**

**THE ULTIMATE BUTCHER.**

****

**THE ULTIMATE ARSONIST.**

****

**THE ULTIMATE HIT-AND-RUN.**

****

**THE ULTIMATE SLANDER.**

_W-What the hell?_ I thought as the words just kept coming, spelling out crime after crime.

****

**THE ULTIMATE POISONER**

****

**THE ULTIMATE TORTURER**

****

**THE ULTIMATE HITMAN**

****

**THE ULTIMATE HACKER**

****

**THE ULTIMATE CON ARTIST**

A shocked silence had filled the room, some of us staring at the screen with clear horror and anger as our apparent crimes were put up there while anxiety started to burn in the bellies of us who hadn’t seen whatever ours were supposed to be yet. 

**THE ULTIMATE CULT LEADER**

****

**THE ULTIMATE SEDUCER**

And then mine, the one I was certain was mine, appeared and my heart nearly stopped.

**THE ULTIMATE CHEATER**

_...That can’t be right. I was...I was so careful. It can’t be referring to me...It can’t be. This...This is wrong. It has to be wrong._

**THE ULTIMATE FORGER**

****

**THE ULTIMATE MALPRACTICE**

****

**THE ULTIMATE THIEF**

I stared blankly as the last few arrived, utterly convinced that the “cheater” had to refer to me. It...I...I had...It was really hard keeping up perfect test scores. It really really was. I never bribed anyone. I never hurt anyone. I just...I took some things. I found out where stuff was kept, and...It was so stupidly easy… _Why is this happening to me?_

“Yeesh, you guys didn’t react nearly this strongly when I straight up murdered a dude,” Kinkuma suddenly spoke up, his grating voice cutting through the haze in my mind. I stared up at him, tears pricking at my eyes as I felt my entire world fall out from under me. It wasn’t like I didn’t work hard. It wasn’t like I’m not smart. It was just so exhausting, having to give a hundred percent on every single stupid thing I did. It wasn’t like the “easy route” was really easy either. Keeping myself from getting caught, making sure there was never a trail back to me...I thought I was so safe.

“YO! CRIMINAL DICKWADS!” the garish bear shouted, now clearly irritated as we all looked up at him again. “Yeesh, glad I saved that one for last. You guys would’ve been impossible if I did the big reveal first.”

He shrugged, holding his arms behind his back again. “Anyway, there you go. You can see your criminal talents up there, and, sure, some of them are pretty obvious, but nobody has actually seen your name next to them, right? Any guesses on what that means?”

“Ah. Blackmail,” Hideyoshi noted, nodding, looking unusually serious, though he seemed more annoyed than terrified or pissed off like the rest of us. “So, if nobody is killed, you’ll reveal who exactly those talents belong to, correct?”

“...Well, yeah. Y’know, nobody likes a spotlight stealer,” Kinkuma muttered, looking upset before he straightened up again. “But yeah. I want a corpse in...let’s say forty-eight hours, to be nice, or otherwise I put a name to those titles. Also, in case you guys haven’t checked our fun little rules yet, winning here means all the losers die. So anybody who could know your secret is offed.” He giggled. “Just a little added incentive.”

Finally, he clapped his hands together, the screen above him flashing off. “Right then! So ends our first big assembly! Wait, no, second. Eh, whatever.” He shrugged, before waving at us as he started heading off stage. “Now that you know what’s at stake, I expect a corpse plenty soon, kiddos! Best of luck with your murder plans, and remember to have fun!” With that said, he did a little cartwheel off stage, a crash echoing out from where he apparently landed. Leaving us all to process what the hell just happened.

“Oh, also!” And then the little prick came right back, a broken stage light on his head. “That list from earlier will be posted on the doors to the lounge later today, in case you want to give a try at figuring out who’s who. Alright, that’s actually all. So have fun! With the murder. Have fun with the murder.”

An awkward silence descended on us as we stared Kinkuma, who slowly started sweating nervously, before suddenly backflipping offstage again, an even louder crash echoing out.

“...What the fuck?” Kimiko muttered, summing up everything we were thinking in one succinct sentence.

**SIXTEEN CRIMINALS REMAINING**

\---:---

 **Kinirokuma Theater:** ♠

_Kinkuma sits on a stage, one spotlight illuminating him as he stares out into an empty audience._

“Y’know, people ask me all the time, why do you like gold so much? And my immediate thought is always ‘That’s a really stupid question. You’re not that bright, huh?’. Gold is just a nice color. It’s the color of greed, did you know that? And it makes perfect sense. Who wouldn’t want tons and tons of such a pretty color everywhere around them? Why do you think capitalism was invented? People like gold, people want gold, so people make systems so they can get more and more gold. That’s why I’m half gold. So I’ll be super popular! What’s that? Why am I half silver? Why am I not all gold? What, are you stupid? Take an art class.”

_Curtains close._

**Heights** :

Testu: 4’7” (140 cm)  
Beatrice: 5’0” without heels, 5'3" with heels (152/160 cm)  
Chinatsu 6’7” (200 cm)  
Akiba 6’6” (198 cm)  
Atsuko: 5’2” (157 cm)  
Kimihito: 5’7” (170 cm)  
Nina: 5’7” (170 cm)  
Kinute: 5’6” (168 cm)  
Fuyumi: 5’1” (155 cm)  
Hideyoshi: 6’0” (183 cm)  
Vito: 5’11” (180 cm)  
Kiru: 5’4” (163 cm)  
Nobu: 5’5” (165 cm)  
Miyabi: 5’8” without heels, 5’9” with heels (173/175 cm)  
Tadashi: 5’6” (168 cm)  
Kimiko: 5’1” (155 cm)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: And here are our motives! Three for the price of one. Aren't we generous?
> 
> IndiSmile: I'm still surprised that the limited amount of food wasn't a constant motive in DR
> 
> Anyway, we hope you enjoyed the chapter. Stick around and see where we go from here. Oh, and feel free to guess which Criminal Talent belongs to which character. Some are obvious, some are less so.
> 
> Hope to see you all next chapter, where things will probably keep escalating. Thank you for reading.


	4. Broken Bonds

**Chapter 4:**

The room was completely silent after curtains up onstage finally closed once more, leaving us to think on all the revelations Kinkuma had just dropped on us and leaving me to slowly start to panic as the severity of the situation crashed down on me. I could feel my breathing grow erratic as so many anxieties and fears started to swirl in my head- _How could he have known what did I do wrong could someone actually kill me to keep their secret_ -a haze filling my mind like static. I clutched the front of my shirt, my grip tight as I started to hyperventilate, desperately trying to regain control of myself only to shriek in shock as I felt something touch my hand.

Jerking away from it, I could feel my heart pounding rapidly in my chest as I stared at Beatrice, the mage looking surprised before concern filled her eyes. _D-Don’t...Don’t look at me like that…_

Everybody was staring now, staring at me, they could see me, they could see what I did what I was what I-

An abrupt cough drew me out of that downward spiral. I looked up, and saw Hide, a closed fist in front of his mouth. He coughed again, then lowered his fist, a calm smile on his face. “My apologies, but I think everyone was getting a little too anxious over the, ah, production Mr. Kinkuma just put on. And while I realize the news we just received was quite disheartening, we shouldn’t allow ourselves to fall into his trap of paranoia and desperation. He has already stated his desire to see us die multiple times, so falling into confusion like this is simply playing into his hands.”

He suddenly smiled wider, clapping his hands together with warm grin. “So, why don’t we all sit down for a little bit and chat? We can figure out just how to react to these...revelations, and attempt to discuss our next course of action.”

“Y-Yeah, we can’t let ourselves be played like we’re pieces in a game,” Kimihito spoke up as he finally stood back up, apparently getting his courage back now that the bear was gone. “All we really have to do is stick this out until we get rescued, right? As long as we ration the food, we ca-” 

“You can’t be serious,” Nobu interrupted, staring at Hideyoshi and Kimihito with clear skepticism. “Are you two honestly that dumb? Or are you just hoping to get our guards down?”

“Now Nobu, there’s no reason to-” Hideyoshi started, only for Nobu to put his notebook back in his satchel, the journalist abruptly turning and walking away from him. As his shoes clacked across the floor, I could feel the bond I had formed with everyone, the desire to trust them and feel safe, _snap._

I barely realized I had been backing away from the group the entire time when I turned and started heading for my room, wanting to be away from everyone more than anything. However, before I could make it through the lounge, I felt somebody grab my arm again. “Koko! Please stop!” 

I immediately pulled out of her grasp, whirling around to glare at Beatrice, well aware that I was panting in fear. She froze, a look of surprise on her face, before she schooled herself. “R-Right. Sorry for grabbing you-”

“ _What do you want with me?!_ ” I hissed, trying and failing to keep myself from shaking. _I’m alone in the lounge with her no no no no-_

“H-Hey, just...take a deep breath, okay?” Beatrice grinned nervously, before suddenly breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth. “LIke this, okay? Deep breath. In for six seconds, hold it for five, then out for seven. In. Hold. Out. There you go, like that.”

I gulped, feeling the tension starting to ebb out of my body with every breath. 

“Good, very good,” Beatrice said with a smile. “So. What do you want to do now?” _Huh?_

“Um…” I stared blankly at her, trying to formulate a response. _I guess...I just wanted out of there? I couldn’t take being in there anymore…_

Beatrice nodded, smiling at me. “...Did, uh, I say that out loud?” I asked, now actually kind of worried I’d been saying everything I was thinking for the past few minutes.

“No, I’m just magic,” she replied, smiling reassuringly despite her...weird answer. Which honestly did kind of snap me out of my dark thoughts. “Do you want to sit?”

“...Sure,” I replied, before sitting down on one of the sofas. Beatrice took a seat next to me.

“I really like the book you gave me,” she suddenly said.

“Oh. Right. Good to hear that,” I responded, sinking back against the cushions. “...What am I going to do?”

Beatrice sighed. “I’m...I’m honestly not sure what to do. I...I’m trying to process everything, myself. Maybe that was the point of golden-prick giving us three ‘revelations’ at once? To throw us off balance?”

“Right. Maybe.”

“...”

“...Should I...Should I go back?”

“Do you want to?”

“...I don’t know what I want. I don’t know if I can trust anyone here. I don’t know what to do about the food, I don’t know what to do about the...criminal talents. I don’t know how to deal with any of this.”

“Hm. Understandable.”

“...Do you trust me?”

“A bit. I think you’re a nice girl. I realize you’re hiding some things, but everybody does that.”

“...Can I trust you?”

“I don’t know if I can answer that one. I want to say yes, but, well, I haven’t given you too many reasons to really like me, now have I?” _That’s not true. I can think of a few reasons…_

“...What’s yours? Your talent, I mean.”

“...I don’t want to answer that. I don’t think anybody would trust me if I said.” _Oh._

I sank back further against the couch. “This is so fucked up…”

“Yeah, it is.”

And then we just sort of sat there, in silence. At least until it was broken in half by a knee to its spine in the form of Nobu. “Oh. Well, I suppose I should’ve expected someone to be in the lounge.”

“The fuck do you want?” I definitely said that one out loud, but I really didn’t care at that point.

“Um. Okay then. Rude,” Nobu muttered, actually sounding a bit offended. “I was just passing through. The others have invaded the dining hall, so-”

“So get going already,” I replied, finally deigning to look at the smug prick. Who...actually looked kind of agitated, a noticeable scowl on his face instead of his usual neutrality.

“Fine,” he bit out. “I can tell-”

“‘When I’m not wanted’, right?” Beatrice spoke up, smiling at Nobu. She actually looked pretty nervous herself, her eyes taking on that tired sheen I saw her have before. “Do you want to talk for a bit?”

“...Not particularly,” Nobu replied as he took a seat across from us. “You’re...like me, aren’t you?”

“Heh. Maybe?” Beatrice replied with a shrug. _...Did I miss something here?_

“Hm. Well, I’m surprised you’re being so accommodating right now. You should know as well as I that things are only going to deteriorate from here. Even the slower members of our little group will start to panic when the implications of Kinkuma’s revelations set in.” He sat back, reaching into his satchel and popping some gum into his mouth. As he chewed, he eyed the two of us.

“So why not try to prevent that?” Beatrice asked, meeting his gaze evenly.

“Because people’s darker natures will always win out,” he replied. “So why bother?”

Beatrice shrugged. “It couldn’t hurt to at least see what they’re up to, right?”

Nobu hummed at that, chewing his gum as he took out his notebook and a pen. Making some notes of...something, he finally nodded to Beatrice. “So, should I expect both of you there?”

“That’s up to Atsuko,” Beatrice replied. _Wait, what? What’s up to me?_

“Fair enough.” And with that said, Nobu stood up and headed towards the kitchen.

“...Did I miss something there?” I asked Beatrice.

“Probably. Nobu’s going to check in with everybody though.”

“Oh. Neat. Guess...Guess we should join in too?”

“Do you want to?”

“...Yeah, fuck it,” I muttered, pushing myself off the couch. “I need to do something before I break down again.”

“On second thought, maybe you should-” 

“Beatrice,” I cut her off, frowning down at her, to which she answered me with a completely neutral expression. Staring at her for a little bit, I finally continued after sighing. “Just...let me do this for now, okay? Then we can do whatever healing thing later…”

Beatrice frowned at my words, but followed me when I walked out of the lounge. I let her go through the door first, though. _I can’t trust anyone right now. Not yet…_

\---:---

“Ah, hello Beatrice and Atsuko!” Hideyoshi immediately greeted us as we walked in, sitting at the head of one of the dining tables. Everybody was seated at the same table for once, with Vito and Kiru sitting the closest to Hideyoshi and Nobu and Kinute sitting the furthest away from him.

“Welcome to the first official strategy meeting of our little group!” Hideyoshi started, grinning happily at each of us. “Please, take a seat! Any seat, so long as it is unoccupied. Or you could ask someone to move, I suppose.” _...Maybe this was a bad idea._

In spite my growing worries, I did take a seat in the first unoccupied spot I saw. Which, of course, had to be directly opposite of Hideyoshi at the end of the table, and right next to Kinute, who immediately scowled up at me as she rested her head on her arms. Just as I was about to consider moving, Nobu suddenly moved over, making space for Beatrice to sit down in his previous spot next to me, on the right.

“Oh, thanks,” Beatrice thanked him, grinning as she sat down by me. _Huh. That was nice of him._

“Don’t mention it,” Nobu mumbled in response, before stiffening as Hideyoshi clapped his hands together again.

“Alright! Now that we are all seated, let’s begin our very first official meeting. First on the agenda, name suggestions for our group!”

“You’re kidding, right?” Nobu asked, raising an eyebrow at the grinning actor.

“Of course not. Official group names will allow us to form a sort of camaraderie, and further deepen our bonds of friendship!”

[RIGHT, PINKY’S CLEARLY HIGH.] Akiba stated, clearly unamused. The technician was sitting further down the table, closer to us and on the right side, next to Nobu.

“If you’re not going to contribute, why don’t you do us all a favor and shut your fucking face?” Vittorio asked with a strained smile, his right eye twitching slightly as he glared at Akiba from the other side of the table.

[UNLIKE YOU, PATHETIC MORTAL, I DON’T NEED MY MOUTH TO SPEAK. SEE?] Akiba leaned forward, tapping his keyboard for emphasis. [SO WHY DON’T YOU USE YOURS FOR SOMETHING MORE CONSTRUCTIVE, LIKE SUCKING MY-]

“ _VAFFANCULO!_ I WILL CUT YOUR FUCKING BALLS OFF-!” Vito suddenly shouted, before Hideyoshi shoved him back in his seat.

“Hey. Calm.” He held up a hand in front of Vito, the Italian visibly seething as he leaned back in his seat. “Right, why don’t we table the name discussion for now?”

“Well, this is off to a great start,” Kinute muttered, her fingers tapping on the table.

“I can agree with that,” Chinatsu spoke up, ignoring Kinute as she looked over at Hideyoshi. The tall gangster was sitting opposite of Akiba, Nina right next to her, between her and Kinute. “What we really should be discussing is how to deal with the ultimatum Kinkuma delivered us earlier.”

“Well, I believe that we should deepen our camaraderie. Afterall, Kinkuma’s plan is to throw us into disarray so we’ll do what he desire,” Hideyoshi stated as he stood up again. “As such, I believe we should all meet up every day at certain times so we may all converse with one another, ensuring that we are familiarized with one another and helping us understand how to better deal with whatever ‘motivations’ Kinkuma decides to throw at us. Now, would anyone like to start us off?” 

Silence seemed to be the answer he received, all of us just kind of glancing at each other as we tried to figure out who would actually be willing to breach the topic of our…”criminal talents”. Finally, as Hideyoshi’s smile started to get a bit strained, somebody came to his rescue. That someone was Tetsu, who was sitting between Chinatsu and Kimiko.

The martial artist cleared his throat, looking over at Hideyoshi. “If I may?” At Hideyoshi’s nod, the actor’s grin returning to full brightness, Tetsu stood up and crossed his arms over his chest. “I have been thinking about Kinkuma’s ultimatum, and I have come to a clear decision. I have done a few things in my past that I deeply regret, and I would be remiss if I allowed myself to be manipulated by those past actions. And so, I fully intend to reveal which ‘criminal talent is mine.” _Wait, what?_

“During our initial introductions, I introduced myself as the former Ultimate Fighter,” he continued, his voice low and serious. “While that title was the one awarded to me by Hope’s Peak Academy, my true title, the one I feel fits me better, is the Ultimate Killer.” _...Is...Is he serious?_

“Er, how are you so certain that ‘criminal talent’ belongs to you?” Tadashi asked, sitting to the right of Vito and next to Kimiko. “None of us actually know for a fact what titles refer to whom. They’re all anonymous. We can only speculate based on our own pasts.”

“I am certain, because the Ultimate Killer is a title I earned,” Tetsu elaborated. “I was essentially ‘awarded’ the title by my...peers, shall we say, in the underground fighting circuits I frequented.”

“Oh?” Nina suddenly spoke up, cocking her head curiously at Tetsu. “Chinatsu did say you had ‘sent people to the morgue’ before. Would you mind explaining further?”

“Isn't it obvious!?” Vito shouted as he pointed at Tetsu. “Questo coglione-ugh, _this asshole_ , already admitted to killing dozens of people! Of course he would get that title!” 

“While it may be true that I have killed several dozen people in the past, I gained that title not through the quantity of my victories, but the skill I displayed in those matches,” Tetsu explained, staring evenly at Vito, the agitated racer shrinking back slightly from his gaze. The martial artist sighed at his reaction, then stared up at the ceiling. “I am willing to admit that my actions in the past were immoral. I was vicious, crude, and brutal towards my opponents, and most of the men and women who survived their bouts with me will never live unassisted. I will not apologize for any of my previous actions, but I do regret...some of them. Not all, but some.”

He lowered his head, staring at the table. “I have spilled blood. My hands have broken bones and crushed organs. My feet have crushed skulls. But that is all in the past.” He suddenly stared straight in front of him, a glint of determination in his eyes. “I refuse to kill any human being ever again. I gave up my previous life in its entirely, and have instead chosen the path of peace. I am a simple hermit now, and I swear to you, I will not kill anyone at this table.”

His piece said, Tetsu sat back down, his eyes closed as silence descended once more. Which was broken a lot quicker than the last one when Kimiko spoke up.

“Um…” Kimiko muttered, her voice quiet and her lighter nowhere to be seen. “I think I might be the arsonist? I may have set some places on fire…A couple places...a lot of places...a small town...” She trailed off, either losing her train of thought or genuinely trying to remember if she actually burnt down enough places to count as an arsonist. _...Honestly, that one was kind of obvious._

It seemed most of the group agreed with me, considered none of us looked surprised in the slightest by her admission. After a few minutes of quiet, Kimiko looked up again, looking bemused.

“Uh...Why isn’t anyone saying anything?” she asked, very clearly and genuinely confused. _We’re not saying anything because you’re a blatant pyromaniac…_

A couple of seconds passed by before Tadashi reached up to pat Kimiko on the head, the pale girl making a little confused noise as he ruffled her hair.

“So now what?” Surprisingly, it was Kinute who spoke up next, her fidgeting increasing as everyone turned to look at her. She scowled back at us, radiating irritation as she glared at Tetsu, who met her gaze evenly, and Kimiko, who just ignored her in favor of looking at Tadashi. “Did you expect everyone here to just tell their secrets just like that? You really think our shit isn’t as bad as yours? One of us is apparently a fucking hitman, another poisons people, and I sure as shit know which one of us likes fucking people up with his car.”

“What?! What the hell is that supposed to mean?!” Vito spat out, slamming his hands on the table as he stood up again.

“Oh please, like you don’t know. Mr. Racer, Mr. Hit-and-run, both use cars? C’mon, use your fucking brain you dickless casanova.” As Vito start growling angrily, Kinute suddenly turned on me, her eyes seeming to drill into mine. “Speaking of obvious, what was your talent again? The Student? So what, you fuck teachers for your grades? Maybe steal other people’s work? Would those count as their own thing, or would they all fall under the umbrella of Cheat-”

“ _Shut your fucking mouth,_ ” I hissed, my nails digging into the table as I glared at her.

“Or what? Gonna tell the teach on me? C’mon, why not tell us? Get a fucking load off that chest of yours. Not that you have much of one.”

“Ms. Kinute, that beh-” 

“Leave Atsuko alone!” Fuyumi spoke up from between Kimihito and Miyabi, her usual shy demeanor gone, even if her body shook in fear. Or maybe fury. She suddenly stood up, glaring down at Kinute. “What about you, huh?! What’s your criminal talent!?”

“Why the fuck would I ever tell-”

“Then what gives you the right to judge any of us!? Y-You don't even t-try to get along with anyone! Y-You’re an awful, crude, sadistic little-

“Ah, now now ladies, arguing with each other will get us nowhere,” Hideyoshi said, his smile clearly strained as brought his hands up in a placating manner. 

“Y-Yeah, you need to stop!” Kimihito exclaimed, standing up too. “You’re doing exactly what Kinkuma wants!”

“Oh would shut up already!?” Vito immediately growled at him, his teeth gritted against each other as he glared at the historian. “What the hell are you even trying to accomplish with these stupid fucking speeches?! Where did you even get this fucking backbone from, you sniveling little _bitch_?!”

“VITO!” Hideyoshi shouted, now clearly agitated. “Calm down! You’re not helping-”

“I DON’T WANT TO FUCKING HELP! I want out of this shitty fucking casino!” Vito slammed his hand on the table, his eyes burning with rage. “And none of you stupid bastards are even bothering to try anything! Hide got us all together and you want to tear your own throats out!”

“And how exactly are you helping?” Tadashi spoke up, glaring at Vito. “Raging at the heavens won’t get the gods to come down-”

“The fuck does that even mean?!”

“Okay, okay, really everyone! Just take a deep breath and-” 

“Look, this clearly wasn’t a good idea-” Chinatsu began, only for Vito to immediately whirl on her.

“SHUT IT! WAIT YOUR FUCKING TURN TO SPEAK YOU-”

“The hell is that supposed to-”

“Natsu, please, sit down-”

“Would you-”

[WELL THIS IS GOING-]

“Please, just-”

“Shut up already!”

Finally, the dam holding back everyone's emotions broke apart completely as everyone started arguing or trying to hold each other back, the only exceptions being Kiru, who looked terrified as he kept his mouth clamped shut, his shoulders shaking as he hunched down in his seat, and Miyabi, who watched us all with a detached coolness even as the heat kept ramping up. The entire room felt like it was about to boil over and _I just can’t stay here-_

Everybody’s attention immediately swung to me when I stood up, my chair scraping against the floor. I paused, taking a few deep breaths while everyone stared at me, a smothering, oppressive silence falling over the room.

“Koko-” Beatrice started, trying to reach for my arm only for me to immediately pull away.

“Please. Just...Just don’t talk to me. I need to be alone,” I muttered, before turning around and leaving the cafeteria. As I reached the door, I paused, and looked back, out at the staring eyes. “Please don’t call me Koko either. Atsuko’s fine.” And then I walked through.

\----:----

Most of the time, when I’m upset, I prefer to do stuff. Something, anything. Just so long as I don’t have to focus on what made me upset in the first place. Like if my parents ever yelled at me, I’d suddenly do something. Housework, homework. Something to feel occupied.

Sometimes, though, I just can’t. Usually if whatever I was doing didn’t help, or if I just felt too terrible to try anything. Then, I just...sink. 

I don’t know how long I was staring up at my ceiling, laying fully clothed on my bed. I heard people knock on the door a few times. I didn’t respond. I...I couldn’t do anything. I was so tired, so exhausted, but I couldn’t sleep. It felt like I was weighed down, like something was pressing down on me. Like I was underwater, maybe. Deep on the seafloor, the ocean crushing my useless body.

Not even Kinkuma’s grating voice, announcing it was nighttime once more, really drew me out of my...whatever the hell I was feeling. Crushing apathy, maybe.

I probably would’ve laid there until the next day, if it weren’t for my stupid stomach. The dumb thing started rumbling, demanding I satiate it’s ravenous hunger. _Right...I didn’t have dinner. I haven’t eaten anything since…yesterday actually._ Thanks to Kinkuma calling us as soon as we woke up, I didn't have time to eat before…everything happened. _...Screw it. I doubt anybody’s going to be up right now._

I got off my bed and stood up, stretching my arms over my head as I tried to get rid of my lethargy. I headed towards the door and grabbed the handle, trying to ignore how my hand was shaking, and opened it up slightly, poking my head out to check if the hallway was empty. _Right...guess everyone’s asleep. Least, I hope they are...I really don’t want to deal with anyone else today._

Finally satisfied that no one was about to sneak up on me, I left my room and headed straight for the kitchen, hurrying through the empty lounge to the equally empty kitchen, the dull hum of the refrigerator filling the air. As I made a beeline for the refrigerator, something suddenly caught my eye.

Along one wall of the kitchen, over the counters, were two magnetized bars, situated one above the other. And on those bars were a series of knives, ranging from small steak knives to a large, menacing cleaver. I stared at the knives, their stainless steel blades seeming to glow in the dim kitchen lights. _I…_ Before I knew it, I was standing in front of them. _I...never hurt anyone. I didn’t. I’m not a killer...or a hitman, or a torturer or...My crimes aren’t that bad, especially compared to theirs. I don’t...I don’t deserve to be here._

I slowly reached out, my arm trembling, and grabbed one of the knives, a large chef’s knife, it’s blade sharp enough...sharp enough to...

“A-Atsuko?” At the sound of a quiet voice, I immediately whirled around, clutching the knife in my trembling hand. The source was Fuyumi, who was standing in the doorway, her eyes widening as she saw the knife I had. “W-What are you doing?”

“...N-Nothing, I-I, uh...s-see, I was thinking, m-maybe,” I stammered, trying to think of some excuse. _I-I can’t breathe…_ “I was just, just, t-trying to...s-self defense, right? N-Not that, I...I-I just...I n-need to…”

The other girl just stared at me, stared at me with those wide, scared- “Atsuko, plea-”

“Shut up! Just...Shut up!” I shouted, tears beginning to prick my eyes as I stared at Fuyumi, my breathing erratic. “Y-You don’t know...y-y-you can’t...n-n-nobody c-can...I-I’d...I’d…”

“...I wasn't lying about you being my first friend.” Fuyumi began to speak in a calm, even tone, looking way too relaxed. “My line of work gets me more enemies than friends.” Looking directly at me, Fuyumi speaks in a clear voice. “My name is Fuyumi Raito, the Ultimate Forger.” _W-Wha…_ “If you're going to kill me, then I at least wanted you to know my real title.”

At the word kill, confusion filled my body. _What? Kill? I...I wouldn’t…_

I stared at her, trying to figure out what she meant as my gaze drifted down...down to the...knife. The knife in my hands. _What was I...about to do?_

Dimly, I heard the knife clatter to the floor as my hand dropped limply to my side. I followed it soon after, collapsing to my knees as I hugged myself, tears dripping from my eyes. _Why...Why is this happening?_

I could feel Fuyumi’s arms wrap around me, the other girl brushing a hand through my hair as she murmured softly. “It’s okay, Atsuko.”

I don’t know how long we were there, on the floor, but Fuyumi comforted me the entire time, softly whispering that everything was going to be okay as I cried my eyes out. Eventually though, it came to an end when my stomach grumbled again and Fuyumi pulled back, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

“...U-Um...I, uh...originally came in here to get dinner…” I mumbled, trying to ignore how warm my face felt. And then Fuyumi just had to giggle, wrecking my composure even more as I immediately flushed a bright red.

“Why don’t we get you something to eat?” Fuyumi suggested. Nodding quietly, I stood up slowly, trying to relax only to freeze completely when Fuyumi grabbed the knife. Looking up at my terrified face, she immediately held up her other hand in a placating gesture, looking nervous all over again. 

“H-Hey, it's okay. I'm just putting this back up,” she explained as I took a few steps back. Despite her reassurance, I felt completely tense until she fully returned the knife to its place on the magnetized bar and turned back to me with a soft smile. “Now let's get you some food.” Offering me her hand, I hesitated for a moment before grasping it like it was my only lifeline.

“Thank you,” I whispered to Fuyumi, quiet enough that I almost thought she didn’t hear me. She was smiling a bit more brightly when she sat me down on a stool by the counter. Putting a hand on my shoulder, she gave me a reassuring squeeze before heading to the fridge. 

“I'm not that good at cooking, so please don’t expect a masterpiece. Just hope that it’s edible, okay?” I grinned halfheartedly at her joke, leaning back and staring at my hands as Fuyumi started taking things out of the fridge. _Was I...Was I really about to...I don’t think I would’ve...Would I? I never expected to be in this situation...Can I really say I wouldn’t? Especially since...especially since if my secret...my secret came out, I’d be ruined. Completely and utterly ruined...Would I be willing to...do something awful to prevent that?_

Lost in my thoughts, I didn’t pay any attention to Fuyumi’s movements around the kitchen until she placed a plate on the counter, a utterly divine looking turkey and ham sandwich resting on it.

“I hope you’re okay with cold food for now,” Fuyumi said as she sat down. “I’m really pretty bad at cooking, and I didn’t want to burn anything. Or accidentally set off the fire alarms. Or both.”

I stared at her, then down at the sandwich as my stomach grumbled again, suddenly making me all too aware of how ravenously hungry I was.

“Hey, you shouldn’t eat so quickly,” Fuyumi admonished me as I grabbed one of the sandwiches and immediately shoved it at my mouth, taking a large chunk out of it with one bite. “Careful! You could choke if you keep that up!”

Hearing the worry in her voice, I slowly put down the half-devoured sandwich, a faint blush on my face again. “I-It’s...delicious,” I muttered, all too aware of the tears rolling down my cheeks. At Fuyumi’s worried look, I turned away, staring down at my plate. “I...never really had friends either. Not, like, normal friends...I was always so focused on my studies...Well, not really. I slacked off every chance I got, no matter how small. My parents wanted the perfect child, the model student, so...I never really had as close a relationship with anybody my own age…”

I shrugged, taking another bite of my sandwich. After I swallowed, I continued. “This is...probably the first time I’ve had someone outside of my family make a meal just for me. For me alone...To make sure I feel better...Heh. I never could go out to the arcade or go out with classmates or anything like that. Video games would rot my brain, useless distractions would ruin my future...I just had to stay in my room. Studying. Working. Honestly, school somehow felt less suffocating than being at home...”

“I know how that feels,” Fuyumi spoke up, smiling softly at me. “I come from a long line of lawyers. As my father said, ‘it’s a Raito’s sworn duty to defend others, no matter the cost’. So, from the very start, I had a lot of pressure on me to live up to our family name. To make sure I don’t let anybody down. So I know exactly how you feel. ”

She sighed. “That’s how I know the ‘Ultimate Forger’ title has to be mine. I helped my father out at our family’s law firm ever since I was little...I looked up to him a whole lot. Him and my uncles. He always puts a hundred percent into every case he gets. A not guilty verdict matters more than anything. No matter what, you have to believe your client is innocent. And...sometimes the courts need a little help realizing that they’re innocent…”

“So...you helped?” I guessed. _Pressure from her dad to do her best...Expectations from her family to help no matter what...We really are alike..._

“Yes, I did. I’ve always been detail-oriented. If I see someone’s writing, I can figure out how to copy it in a matter of minutes. If my father needed evidence to prove his client’s innocence, I helped make it. I’m actually pretty good at arts and crafts...” She lets out a little laugh, sounding more sad than amused. “Who knows? In another life, I could’ve been an artist…”

“Hm. You still could, maybe?” I shrugged. “Once we get out of here, who knows? Things could turn out really differently…”

“Heh. That’s a nice thought.” I stiffened slightly as Fuyumi hugged me again, before putting down my sandwich and returning the gesture, truly enjoying the other girl’s comforting presence.  
“When we get out of here can we do...something together?” Fuyumi asked, looking honestly confused for once as she tried to think of something. “Like...maybe, uh...I… don't really know what people do to have fun together.”

I honestly couldn’t help it. She looked so adorably confused, I couldn’t help giggling. It certainly didn’t help when she started blushing, pouting quite cutely at me.

“S-Sorry. Ah, I would love to hang out with you, Fuyumi. Maybe we could go sing karaoke together? Though I've never sang in public, so I don't really know if I'm good at singing or not? I probably won't ever get the title of ultimate singer. Actually, definitely not.” 

“W-Well, I'm sure you're an amazing singer!” Fuyumi reassured me as she grabbed my free hand, smiling earnestly up at me. Grinning back, I finally finished off my sandwich and stood up, patting my stomach.

“Ahhh, thanks so much, Fuyumi,” I thanked her, grinning cheerfully. _This night actually turned out a lot better than it started._ “Want to head back with me?”

“Oh, sure!” she replied, taking the plate and putting it in the sink before walking with me out of the kitchen and through the lounge, back to our rooms.

As we reached my door, I turned back to look at her, my happy grin not fading in the slightest. “I’m really glad I met you Fuyumi. After...everything that happened earlier, I...Just, thank you very much for being my friend.”

“You’re very welcome Atsuko,” she replied, smiling brightly. _Heh. Maybe things won’t be so bad here...I’ll figure out what to do about that motivation mess later. For now...I can just be happy._

I smiled again, then suddenly spoke up as she was about to turn and leave. “Ah, hey!” I stiffened slightly as she turned back, a curious look on her face as I rubbed my head sheepishly. “Do, uh...do you mind if...we, uh, hang out tomorrow?”

She blinked, then grinned even wider than before. “I would love to!” _Be still my heart…_ “I’ll see you tomorrow then, Atsuko.”

“Y-Yeah, see you then,” I replied, waiting for her to get back to her room at the end of the hall before I opened up my door. I then slowly closed it, made sure it was fully shut, and promptly flopped back onto my bed, my face pressed against the covers. As I rolled over onto my back, I couldn’t help giggling. _Being here is so weird...Like an emotional roller coaster or something. But hey, at least I’m making friends._

I sighed happily, before sitting up and glancing down at my clothes. _Right, too late to take a shower...Bleh, not going to sleep in this anyway. What time is it anyway?_ I glanced at my clock, then felt my eyes widen. _It’s 12 AM? Wow, that’s...huh. Not the latest I’ve stayed up, but that means I’ve been in bed for...ah, fuck it. I’ll think later._

With that decided, I finally got undressed for bed. And as I pulled my covers over me, I actually felt pretty happy. _We’ll figure something out...Tomorrow’s a new day, after all._

\---:---

_Huh. Would it be rude of me to ask Fuyumi to show off her forgery talent?_ I wondered to myself as I got dressed for the day, my hair still dripping slightly from the shower. _Bleh. Why doesn’t this place have any hairdryers? Hm...maybe I should check the court?_

I shrugged at that thought, before getting through the rest of my morning routine, stretching out and putting on my makeup, then getting fully dressed in my school uniform. After I made sure everything was in place and I looked like a fully functioning human being instead of someone two steps away from a nervous breakdown, I headed out of my room and down the hall once more, now under the full illumination of the “day” lights instead of the dim nighttime lighting.

Heading through the empty lounge and unoccupied kitchen, I was honestly kind of surprised when I saw Hideyoshi and Fuyumi up already, the two of them actually talking together about...some papers?

“Uh…” I intelligently spoke up, promptly catching their attention.

“Ah, Ako!” “Atsuko.” “Atsuko! Right!” Hideyoshi grinned, grabbing the stack of papers and adjusting them so they looked tidier, before setting them down again. “Welcome to the second strategy meeting!”

“...Sorry, what?” I asked, glancing at Fuyumi.

“Oh, H-Hideyoshi asked for my assistance in, um...ensuring our next meeting went better than the previous one.” _Ah. Right, that meeting…_ “Things, um...devolved further after you left yesterday.”

“Yup! I actually had to hold back Vito from attacking...uh…” Hide trailed off, staring at the ceiling.

“Kimihito?” Fuyumi offered.

“No, no, not him...different guy...Tall blue one?”

“Ah, Akiba. Yes, he really didn’t help things…”

“Right, that one!” Hide nodded, grinning again. “So yes, I thought it best to arrive here early and attempt to plan out an actual itinerary for our next meeting, so it doesn’t fall into the same chaos that occurred before due to our lack of prior planning.” _I don’t think it was the lack of planning that caused everybody to start shouting at each other…_

“Um...well Hideyoshi,” I started as I sat down next to Fuyumi, looking up at the actor. “I just wanted to apologize for leaving like that yesterday. I made things worse than they needed to be…” 

“Not really,” he denied, waving a hand dismissively. “Honestly, you just created a little break in the action, which promptly resumed about...ten minutes later? So it was actually a pretty decent break, only really ruined by Kinute accusing Kiru of performing surgeries while intoxicated.”

“Huh…” _Yeesh, she’s really unpleasant to everyone, huh?_ “Well, still, I’d like to help out with your planning. At least a little, I guess.” Putting on the best smile I could muster, I waited to hear Hideyoshi’s response. Which was just as enthusiastic as the guy always was.

“Oh, that’s fantastic! Your help is greatly appreciated, for you see, I'm currently planning on dividing us each into groups of four people,” he explained, pointing down at the relevant papers, a few scribbles of who would fit with whom scrawled across the paper.

“After last's night fiasco, I came to the conclusion that the primary problem we dealt with was trying to get everyone together at once. You see, we are all individuals with distinct personalities and contrasting attitudes, unfortunately, which can result in conflict when in a large group. So we’ll be taking baby steps for now, to ensure our later cooperations work out even better!” He beamed happily, then his smile became a bit strained as he glanced down at the papers again. “Though I will admit that I’m having a bit of difficulty deciding how best to split up the groups. Vito is not particularly fond of most of the men here, myself excluded, and most of the girls...are not very, ah, receptive to his...attitudes.” And then his grin dropped completely into a frown. “In addition...Kinute is...well…”

“Kinute?” I supplied.

“Oh, the, um...ah...not quite tall girl but taller than you, wears a big jacket, long hair, very fidgety-”

“No, I wasn’t asking who she was, I was...y’know what, nevermind,” I muttered, before taking a look at the papers, then glancing up at Fuyumi as she takes some notes. “...Hey, Hideyoshi, do you mind if I’m in the same group as Fuyumi?”

Fuyumi paused in her writing, looking at me with genuine surprise in her eyes while Hideyoshi raised an eyebrow at me. He hummed in thought, adopting a thinking pose as he mused to himself.

“Well...I was planning on making the groups composed of two guys and two girls, and I already planned on putting you with Ms. Mage…” _O-Oh...right. Beatrice…I really need to talk to her._ “But since you are here so early and I haven’t made any concrete decisions yet, I think it should be fine to acquiesce to your request.” He grinned down at me, before glancing at Fuyumi. “It is fine, right?”

“Um...y-yes, it’s fine,” Fuyumi mumble, smiling softly at me. I grinned back, trying not to show any of the inner turmoil I was feeling over how I acted towards Beatrice yesterday. _I’ll just apologize the next time I see her...I hope she gets up soon._

“Hmm...Do you mind if Kimihito and Kiru join your group?” Hide suddenly asked, looking at me curiously before explaining further. “Given Fuyumi’s personality, I don't think it'd be good to place her with the more...forceful of our male companions.” I shrugged, glancing at Fuyumi, who shrugged back in response.

“Yeah, we’re good with that.”

“Right, that’s another group complete!” Hideyoshi exclaims, grinning happily as he writes something down. “Now let's see…Ooo, putting Akiba with Chinatsu seems good. Afterall, he's blue and skinny, and she's red and brawny. Contrast!” _...I guess that works?_

“Um, m-maybe putting Nina in that group would be good too?” Fuyumi suggested, making notes on her own papers. “She and Nikuya seem to be close, so Nina might be able to calm her down if things escalate again.”

“Hmm...yes, yes, that’s very true,” Hideyoshi agreed, nodding to himself, “In that case, Tetsu should make for an interesting fourth member. His shortness contrast most of the group’s tallness, and his predominantly black color palette works well with Nina’s predominately white attire.”

“Huh. You really know a lot about colors,” I noted.

“Of course! As an actor, I must be aware of all activities that go into productions, whether they be for stage or film,” he explained, a happy grin on his face as he leaned forward on the table, one finger up like he was giving a lecture. “And costuming and color palettes are a very large part of conveying character and setting without dialogue. Hence why it is very important to know how best to draw attention to a character’s attributes without requiring long, winding monologues, or how to display mood through lighting instead of having some nimrod narrating how utterly drab everything is. Why, I even spent one summer working entirely amongst the stage crews at various theaters, just to get a feel for how much effort goes into ensuring the setting and stage looks perfect for any given performance!”

“...Huh,” I intelligently replied, honestly not expecting the sheer amount of enthusiasm Hide was expressing. I glanced at Fuyumi, who was apparently taking notes on what Hide was saying, and then back at the papers in front of me. “Right, well, uh, back on the subject of our, uh, ‘teams’, do you have any other groups decided?”

“Oh, right, right, sorry! I got caught up in the moment.” Hideyoshi chuckled sheepishly, glancing down at his own papers again. “Ah, yes, I did decide on putting Ms. Mage and Mr. Journalist together, given how well they seemed to be getting along after the, well, debacle.” _They what?_ “Oh, wait! Given that I switched out you for this group, I can substitute in Mr. Spring and Ms. Pyro!”

“Sorry, what?” _They’re...getting along? I mean, that’s good, right? That...Huh...Why does that feel weird…?_

“Hm? Oh, yes, uh, the young man with the surgical mask and kimono with quite the lovely spring color palette,” Hideyoshi explained, completely misunderstanding what part I was asking about. “Hm...Some more orange and brown in Ms Pyro’s dress sense would give her a nice autumn contrast...She does have those orange goggles. Ah, yes, fire and flowers, erratic flames and calming herbs, infernal heat and temperate forest, yes, yes, a very nice pairing, and the accessories! See no evil, speak no evil, perhaps? What do you think?”

I blinked at Hideyoshi’s sudden tangent, trying not to seem too confused as I replied. “Uh...they seem to like each other?”

“True! So that’s very likely going to work out, and we also have a final group! Made up of the remnants, but perhaps it’ll work out?” He paused, before grinning. “So, that leaves myself, Vito, Kinute, and…”

“Miyabi,” Fuyumi offered.

“Miyabi! Yes, the attractive and dominating seamstress Vito is so enamored with, though he is clearly destined to fail in that regard,” Hideyoshi noted, nodding to himself. _...Should I feel bad for Vito? ...Nah._ “Right then! So, we have...Fuyumi, you remember the names better, right?”

“Hm? Oh, yes,” Fuyumi replied, before holding up one paper and reading off of it. “First group: Atsuko, Kiru, Kimihito, and me. Second group: Nikuya, Akiba, Nina, and Tetsu. Third group: Nobu, Beatrice-” _There it is again...What the heck am I feeling?_ “-Tadashi, and Kimiko. And final group: Hideyoshi, Vito, Kinute, and Miyabi.”

“Ha ha! There we go!” Hideyoshi grinned, clapping his hands together. “Thank you very much for your aid in this endeavor, Fuyumi and Atsuko!” I smiled half-heartedly at him, lost in my thoughts again as the actor starting gathering up his papers.

_Beatrice and Nobu, huh? They...Those two did seem to make some kind of connection last night...It...It’s probably nothing-No, no, I’m overthinking this. I’m just...I really hope she wakes up soon so I can apologize…_

“Right!” Hideyoshi suddenly exclaims, snapping me out of my thoughts as he stands up. “Thank you both again for your help! If you need me for anything at all, I’ll be in the lounge, ensuring everyone is made aware of our new group structures, and of our plans for today. I’ll see you both later!”

I gave a little goodbye wave to Hide as he headed out, then leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest as I resumed my previous thoughts. _I wonder if she’s angry at all? I did just walk out on her...and then decided to pair up with Fuyumi instead. Ah, dammit, that might’ve ruined my chance of talking with-_

And then I was snapped out of my thoughts again when Fuyumi touched me on the shoulder, getting my attention.

“Are you okay?” she asked, clear concern in her eyes.

“Oh, y-yeah, I’m fine. Just...lost in thought, I guess.”

“I see...Were you thinking about Beatrice?” she suddenly asked. _What? How’d she-_ “I do recall my mother saying that people tend to get a certain look on their face when they’re thinking about the person they like…” _...W-W-What??? What’s that mean?!_

I think my weird mix of panic and embarrassment showed on my face, because Fuyumi immediately started giggling.

“Ahh, so you do like her!” she exclaims, grinning cheerfully at me and then giggling some more when she saw just how red my face was getting.

“What!? N-No, I-W-Well, I mean, I do like-But not-H-Hold on, what!?” I stammered, trying to figure out how we suddenly got on this topic. “I-I’ve only known her for a few days! I-I-”

Fuyumi just keeps shaking with quiet laughter, ignoring my flustered attempts at denial. Though what exactly I was denying, I wasn’t entirely sure. Thankfully, a reprieve from my embarrassment soon arrived in the form of a very tired looking Kiru, who was holding one of the papers Hideyoshi had earlier in one hand and a glass of juice in the other. The surgeon raised an eyebrow at Fuyumi’s clear amusement and my obvious embarrassment, glancing between the two of us.

“...Should I ask?”

“Please don’t,” I muttered, only for Fuyumi to start giggling even harder. _Uuuuuuugh...whyyyy…_

“Riiiiight,” he drawled, taking a seat near us. Up close, he honestly looked even more exhausted, clear bags under his eyes and his hair much messier than usual. “So, apparently I’m supposed to be in a group with you two?”

I sighed. “Yeah, you and Kimihito with Fuyumi and me. I assume Hideyoshi explained everything to you?”

“At length. Well, I suppose there is safety in numbers. And you two don’t seem like the types to suddenly start claiming that I’m a drunk.”

“Oh yeah, Hide said something about Kinute accusing you?” Suddenly, the mood seemed to sour, Kiru grimacing as he took a sip from his glass while Fuyumi sat up straight, a cold look in her eyes.

“Yes, she did. I’m not sure why, but she seemed convinced the Ultimate Malpractice title must belong to me, and I must’ve earned it by cutting up patients while intoxicated,” Kiru explained, scowling down at the table. _That’s...weirdly specific. And really uncalled for. Though I’m pretty sure you’re the only one who could have that title here…_

“She only said it to get a rise out of you,” Fuyumi spoke up, an oddly dark look on her face. “She threw accusations at everyone who seemed like an easy target, like how Nobu must make up stories for attention or Hideyoshi must be taking advantage of his fans for...sexual favors.”

Fuyumi growled under her breath, a surprising amount of anger and disgust in her eyes. “I guarantee to you, she must be some kind of…” She trailed off, a look of realization crossing her face. “Some kind of sadist…” _Uh...what? Why’s that significant?_

That question wouldn’t be answered anytime soon, since at that moment my stomach decided to make herself known, a little growl sounding out. I could feel my face get hot as Kiru and Fuyumi looked at me, so I just grinned sheepishly back at them. “Right, uh...how about we forget about that jerk for a bit and just get breakfast?”

“...Yeah, alright,” Fuyumi agreed, glancing at Kiru.

“Eh, I suppose I can read this later,” he muttered, standing up again and heading towards the kitchen.

_Heh. Maybe this group thing won’t be so bad?_ I thought to myself as I followed the two of them into the kitchen. _At least I’ll get to know them better over breakfast._

\---:---

Breakfast time progressed pretty mundanely from there. Fuyumi, Kiru and I all sat together again, eating and chatting while our fellow “contestants” gradually wandered in.

“Buongiorno,” Vito muttered as he meandered into the room and over to a different table, pretty much flopping down on top of it when he sat down. Miyabi entered soon after him, now wearing her original velvet red suit and carrying a bowl of fruit.

“Good morning Fuyumi, Kiru,” she greeted the two of them, before glancing at me and smirking slightly. Unlike Kiru and Vito, she didn’t seem tired in the slightest, looking about as impeccable as ever. “Well hello Atsuko. I swear, you’ve been avoiding me lately. I only seem to see you when everybody is gathered together.”

“...H-Hi Miyabi,” I replied, trying desperately to ignore the way my heartbeat picked up, and they way Kiru and Fuyumi both glanced at me. “Um, sorry? I guess we just kept missing each other…”

“Heh, quite. Well, I’ll see you around then.” She smiled at me again, then headed over to Vito’s table and taking a seat by him. Oddly enough, Vito barely responded to her presence, only mumbling something when she sat down. Judging by the way she immediately looked down at him with an unamused frown, it probably wasn’t anything worth listening to.

Next up were Tadashi and Kimiko, both looking more awake than Vito and Kiru, but still visibly tired. Tadashi was holding a few papers in one hand and a bowl of something, probably soup, in the other, while Kimiko seemed to be trying some kind of balancing act with a big stack of pancakes and what looked like a mug of coffee, but smelled like hot cocoa all resting precariously in her hands, her lit lighter nestled on top of the pancake stack.

“Oh, morning Ko-Ack!” Kimiko tried to greet me, nearly dropping her plate before Tadashi moved his elbow to help hold it up.

“Careful now,” he muttered, still reading the papers while Kimiko fixed her grip on the plate.

“Right, thanks Dashi!” she replied, grinning happily as they reached their table. Now setting her stack down first, Kimiko turned to us and waved, before sitting down and visibly salivating over her stack of pancakes. Though I did notice that she moved a portion of said stack over to the side of her plate, closer to Tadashi. _Huh. I guess they’re sharing?_

After those two, we all just kind of waited for a bit, until our remaining friends finally started waking up, Tetsu wandering in about half an hour later with only a single piece of toast on his plate. The martial artist seemed about as tired as everybody else, though his beard remained as perfect as ever.

“Hi Tetsu,” I greeted as he walked by. He paused and looked over at me, a faint smile on his face.

“Ah, good morning Atsuko,” he rumbled, apparently fighting down a yawn. “I see Beatrice is not awake yet.”

“Oh, uh, yeah, I don’t think she is,” I replied, my thoughts from earlier trying to come back. I shook my head to scatter them, trying to smile back at Tetsu. “She’s, um, not actually in my group though.”

“Yes, yes, I am aware,” he responded, stroking his beard. “Chinatsu and Nina went over the group compositions with me and Hide, so I am well aware of how everyone is placed.”

“Chinatsu and Nina are up?” Fuyumi suddenly asked, looking at Tetsu curiously.

“Yes, they both are. Though they are not going to be joining us for breakfast at the current time,” he explained. “Nina apparently decided today should be her laundry day, and she requested Chinatsu come with her. I imagine it must take some work to keep those suits of hers clean, and it’s better to get things done sooner rather than later, after all. As for my remaining group member, I believe Akiba is still asleep, as I do not see him here, nor was he in the lounge.”

“Hm. Understood,” Fuyumi mumbled, clearly thinking to herself.

“So, uh, what’s with the piece of toast?” I decided to ask since Fuyumi seemed to be done with her line of questioning.

Tetsu sighed in response, looking...regretful? “It is my penance for consuming so much food on our first night here,” he explained. “I was unaware of how limited our food supply could be, and chose to engage in a foolish eating contest that undoubtedly wasted a large amount of our supplies. So I have taken it upon myself to eat much less from now on.”

“Oh…You really don’t have to-”

“But I want to,” he stated, staring evenly at me. “I have chosen this path of penance in response to my earlier actions. I ask that you not dissuade me from it, and instead focus on your own friend.”

“My own friend?”

“Beatrice,” he explained. _What?_ “She seeks to shoulder some of the blame for instigating the contest in the first place, and has stated her desire to pay a penance similar to mine.” _...Oh. She...She wants to eat less for our sakes? That’s…_

“To be honest, I hoped you would talk her out of it,” Tetsu continued, cause me to stare at him in surprise. “Blame my upbringing, but I am not especially fond of seeing girls in pain. And the agony of starvation is a truly aching pain. She may choose to eat smaller portions if she so desires, but I would prefer it if I alone shouldered this burden.”

“O-Okay,” I replied, suddenly struck by the image of a half-starved Beatrice, exhausted and hungry. “I’ll talk to her as soon as she-”

“ **ATTENTION ATTENTION AH-TEN-SHUN!** ” the speakers suddenly blared, Kinkuma’s grating voice sounding out. “ **Congratulations! A body has been discovered!** ” _Wait, what?_ “ **One of you lucky, lucky contestants is now the blackened! Which means one really unlucky contestant is now a corpse! Y’know what that means? It’s almost time for a trial! Everybody, get your butts in gear and start investigating if you want to survive! See you soon~!** ”

_W-Wha…A body? Someone...Someone died?_ Almost immediately, I began to look wildly around the cafeteria, trying to figure out who was here and who wasn’t. _Okay, okay, we’re missing Nobu, Akiba, Kinute, Bea-...Beatrice. Where’s Beatrice?!_

“Atsuko?” I dimly heard someone call my name as I stood up and practically sprinted for the doors, rushing straight through the kitchen and lounge, past Hideyoshi. “Atsuko?!”

_Please be okay, please be okay!_ I mentally chanted as I reached her door, immediately rapping my knuckles against its surface.

“Beatrice? Beatrice are you in there!?” I asked desperately, knocking harder on the door and trying to twist its knob with my free hand. “Please answer me! Are you in there?! Are you okay!?! Beatrice, _please!_ ”

But she didn’t answer.

**FIFTEEN CRIMINALS REMAINING**  
\---♠---  
**Kinirokuma Theater** : ♠  
_Kinkuma sits on a stage, one spotlight illuminating him as he stares out into an empty audience. Behind him, an empty fish tank bubbles._

“It’s weird how much people seem to like beaches. LIke, really really weird. What’s so great about beaches in the first place? They’re just weird mini-deserts that didn’t get the memo about no water. Not that the water there is any good either. It’s so gross and salty, and there’s tons of weird things living in it. Weird, delicious things. Seriously, fish is fantastic food. Same goes for squid, shrimp, sharks, whales, jellyfish, crabs, cthulhu, clams, horseshoe crabs, starfish, sea anemones...Yep, yep, the ocean is full of delicious things. That’s why you brats need to take better care of the ocean! Or else we’ll lose out on seafood! Beaches can go burn though, they’re just useless.”

_The curtains close._

**Table Seating** :

_______Hideyoshi  
Vito___________Kiru  
Tadashi_______Kimihito  
Kimiko________Fuyumi  
Tetsu_________Miyabi  
Chinatsu_______Akiba  
Nina___________Nobu  
Kinute_________Beatrice  
_________Atsuko________

 

**Bedroom set-up** :  
____________♠____________  
1Beatrice-----Kimihito  
2 Nina-------Vito  
3 Kinute------Tetsu  
4 Atsuko------Akiba  
5 Miyabi------Hideyoshi  
6 Kimiko------Nobu  
7 Chinatsu ----Tadashi  
8 Fuyumi------Kiru 

♠ = Lounge door (Starting from this point and looking forward, guys are on the left, girls are on the right.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger everybody! Not sorry enough to tell you what happens next though. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and will be patient for the next one. Thank you very much for reading.
> 
> IndiSmile: If anyone needs me I'll be hiding somewhere.


	5. One Down

**Chapter 5** :

_N-No...P-Please no…_ I was on my knees, tears pricking at my eyes as I kept trying to twist the locked doorknob. _She...I-I c-can’t...It can’t be true…_ Tears started spilling down my face as I came to the worst possible conclusion. _I...I never got to-_

Suddenly, I nearly fell over when the doorknob twisted in my hand and the door opened. I had to grab the doorframe to keep myself from face-planting, but it really didn’t matter. I looked up, and I saw Beatrice. Her hair was a mess, and her uniform was ruffled and creased like she’d thrown it on in a hurry but she was fine. She was still alive. She was fine and alive and-

“Atsu-Eep!” she squeaked as I leapt up and hugged her, squeezing her tightly like she would’ve vanished if I let go. “A-Ah...w-what, um-”

“I’m sorry,” I croaked out, barely able to speak through my tears. “I-I’m...I’m s-so sorry…” Tears and snot were starting to stain her shirt as I sobbed, every little stress over the past few days crashing down on me all at once.

Dimly, I could feel Beatrice gently return my hug. “It’s okay. I’m okay,” she whispered, soothingly. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

“N-No...N-N-No, i-it’s not…” I denied, gulping as I clung to her.

“Atsuko, what happened?” Beatrice asked. I brought my head up, trying to get my breathing under control as I stared into her eyes, filled with concern.

“S-Someone...S-S-Someone is dead,” I finally got out, trying to regain my composure. “D-Did...Didn’t you hear the announcement?”

“N-No,” she whispered, clearly horrified. “I-I must’ve slept through it...Oh my god...W-Who… Who...W-What happened?”

“I’m...I’m not sure. I’m just...I’m just so glad you’re safe,” I told her, a soft smile forming on my face as she suddenly blushed. And that was promptly ruined when I heard someone cough. _...Please don’t be Nobu. I swear to every god that if it’s Nobu I am going to...fuck, I don’t know, skewer Kinkuma with a harpoon…_

Lo and behold, it was fucking Nobu. At least he looked visibly uncomfortable for once. Probably because I was currently dripping with tears and snot. “E-Either of you have a tissue?” I asked. _I’m never going to live this down…_

“Er, I-” “Oh, I do have a handkerchief,” Beatrice interrupted Nobu, patting herself down before frowning. “Ah, right, it’s in my robe. Um, Atsuko?”

“Y-Yeah?”

“Could you let go of me for a moment?”

“R-Right, sorry.” I could feel my face heating up as I let go of her, a faint smile on her face as she headed towards her dresser. _She’s okay...Alright. Okay. Calm down, deep breaths._

“Ahem. Atsuko?” Nobu tried to get my attention again, his notepad already out and a pen pressed against it. “Have you composed yourself yet?”

“Sure, sure, just, one sec, okay?” I waved him off, turning to Beatrice, now cloaked once again, as she offered me her handkerchief, a little purple cloth with her initials embroidered on it. _...Well great, now I don’t want to ruin this with my snot…_

“Atsuko, I gave you that for a reason.” Beatrice spoke up, getting me to blush again. I sighed, then wiped down my face, making sure to get rid of all mucus and tears before handing it back to Beatrice. And then she just balled it up and tossed it over her shoulder. _Well okay then._

“Atsuko.” I stiffened as Nobu spoke up again, his tone clearly impatient. “Would you please tell me what happened already?”

“Eh?”

“The announcement. What can you tell me about the announcement?” he asked tersely. He actually looked really tense- _Oh right someone’s dead oh dammit._

“R-Right! Okay, uh, well, I’m pretty sure it was the Body Discovery Announcement mentioned in the rules. And, uh, I guess it means somebody died?”

The blank look I got in response honestly killed whatever inner turmoil I was feeling, replacing it with immense embarrassment as Nobu just stared at me. Said embarrassment got even worse when I noticed Beatrice was trying to hide a smile, her shoulders shaking with repressed laughter.

“Yes. I could infer that,” Nobu replied in complete deadpan, nodding slowly. “Anything else? Such as, say, who you know for a fact is still alive?”

Biting down the temptation to say “you and Beatrice”, I took a breath before trying to remember everybody I’d seen earlier. 

“Right, so, I was with Fuyumi, Kiru, and Tetsu when the announcement came on, and Vito, Miyabi, Tadashi and Kimiko were all in the dining hall with us...Tetsu mentioned Chinatsu and Nina went to go do laundry, and I saw Hideyoshi again when I was running over here,” I explained as Nobu wrote down my words.

“Hm. So the obvious conclusion you came to was that the victim had to be one of the remaining ‘contestants’...Where was the victim found?”

“Uh...I don’t actually know.” I smiled awkwardly as he gave me what was probably the most incredulous look I had ever seen. 

“What about the murder weapon?”

“Er, not sure.”

“...Have you seen the crime scene at all?”

“...No.” I could almost hear a tiny voice in Nobu’s head scream in rage as he came the conclusion that I just ran here the second I heard that announcement without bothering to find out anything useful and then proceeded to have a complete breakdown in front of a girl I’ve known for five days because she wouldn’t answer the door immediately. “In my defense, I’ve had a very stressful few days.”

“...I am going to check the rooms of our potential victims. You should go and find out more information about the murder itself. Take Beatrice with you, she’s very clearly hungry.”

“Wait, what?” Beatrice spoke up, frowning at Nobu. 

“Uh, sure-Wait, wouldn’t it go quicker if we each-” I tried to point out, only for Nobu to point his pen at me.

“Atsuko, I sincerely don’t care where you go, just please, do not speak to me for at least twenty minutes or I feel I might have an aneurysm out of sheer anger at the simple fact that you decided to drop everything _to go check on your girlfriend without even finding out who the damn victim is_. As for you, Beatrice, get breakfast, then you can be useful.”

“...” I decided discretion was the better part of valor at that point and chose not to respond to his girlfriend comment, instead taking Beatrice’s hand and heading down the hallway.

“So, I’m your girlfriend now?” _Oh goddammit Beatrice…_

“Do you want to be?” I promptly fired back. _Ha, yes, actually had a response that time._

“Hm...I’m not opposed to it.” _Wait, what?_ “But we should focus on finding out what’s up with the body announcement, right?” Suddenly, I was the one being dragged along by Beatrice. “So, let’s head back to the dining hall first and meet up with everyone-”

“What?” I interrupted her as we walked into the now empty lounge. “No, you’re getting something to eat first.”

Beatrice sighed, smiling at me like I was being silly. “Atsuko, don’t worry, I’ll be-”

“Tetsu told me about your ‘penance’,” I stated, frowning at her. Her grin immediately became strained, a guilty look in her eyes. 

“Ah, stupid chivalric…” she muttered, before staring back up at me. “So what? It’s my choice to eat however much I-”

“Beatrice, you don’t need to blame yourself-”

“But I did screw up-!”

“You didn’t know!” I exclaimed, glaring down at her as she closed her mouth with a stubborn frown. “You didn’t know about the food limit, you didn’t know that any of us were in danger of starving, and you were just trying to have some fun and maybe lighten the mood or something! It wasn’t your fault for starting an eating contest, and it isn’t your fault that the psycho bear keeping us here is apparently a cheapskate when it comes to necessities. So stop trying to beat yourself up over it.”

“I bet you weren’t this forceful with Tetsu about this,” Beatrice muttered, not meeting my eyes.

“I’ll yell at him later,” I snapped back, before grabbing her hand again. “Right, c’mon, we’re getting you food and _then_ we’ll figure out just what the fuck is going on in this hellhole.”

Beatrice opened her mouth to retort but her stomach cuts her off with a grumble. “...” 

“See? Your stomach agrees with me.” I grinned as she started pouting, firmly leading her into the kitchen and over to a stool. “Right, you sit here, and no running off, got it?”

“Got it,” she huffed, sulking dramatically against the counter while I headed towards the refrigerator.

“Heh. So, what do you want to eat-”

“ **ATTENTION CONTESTANTS!** ” the speakers suddenly blared, cutting me off. “ **It has come to my attention that I didn’t actually explain how the investigation is supposed to work! My bad! But really, it is kinda your faults for not pointing it out to me sooner. So every last one of you sick creeps get your rears in gear and head to the stage! And that includes our late sleepers and nosy peepers! Everybody means everybody, got it?! Anyone who shows up even five minutes late is getting punished!** ”

“Fucking asshole bear,” I muttered, glaring up at the ceiling.

“Well, you heard him, let’s-” Beatrice started before I yanked open the fridge, grabbed a bunch of bananas and shoved it against her chest.

“Eat while walking. Let’s go,” I grumbled, not even able to enjoy the genuinely confused look on Beatrice’s face. _I swear I’m going to skin that stupid bear when we’re done with this._

\---:---

Kinkuma was already up on the stage when we got there, impatiently tapping his foot while looking at a comically oversized watch on his wrist.

“Two minutes, twenty seven seconds!” he barked at Beatrice and I as we approached, most of the group already there, including Chinatsu and Nina and minus Nobu, Kinute, Akiba, and Kimihito. He showed us his watch, pointing at the clock with his free hand. “All the rest of your group got here in only one minute, so what’s your excuse you slow brats!?”

“Your watch is broken,” I pointed out, “It’s cracked right down the middle and you’re missing its hour hand.”

“Hah! My internal clock is working perfectly! I don’t need this stupid thing!” With that said, he ripped the watch off his wrist and chucked over our heads, where it promptly crashed straight through one of the slot machines. “...I’m not paying to fix that!” _But it’s your machine…_

“Well, damaged equipment aside,” Hideyoshi said as he turned to us with a grin. “It’s great to see you’re still alive, Beatrice!” _Tact, Hide. Learn it._

“Great to still be alive, Hide,” she promptly responded, grinning back at him. _Okay, never mind._

“Well you won’t be for long if I have anything to say about it! Alive, I mean!” Kinkuma barked out again, starting to pace the stage. “Uuuugh, no, no, don’t kill the contestants, you still need them...Where the fuck are they!?”

“It hasn’t even been five minutes,” Tadashi pointed out, standing by Kimiko as always.

“Yeah, but I’m a very busy man! Bear! Bear man! Fuck, I don’t know!” Suddenly, Kinkuma stiffened, staring up at the ceiling. “Huh...What am I?”

Rather than deal with Kinkuma’s existential crisis, I went over to Chinatsu and Nina to finally get some answers. “So...what happened, exactly?”

“Oh, Kimihito is dead,” Nina promptly responded in a casual tone. I don’t know what it said about me that my initial reaction wasn’t sadness, but confusion. _Oh...Kimihito? Really? But...why? Why him? He’s just a normal guy. Most of the time we don’t even notice him around...Why would someone…_

“It’s true,” Chinatsu confirmed, apparently noticing my disbelief. “He was strung up by his leg in the laundry room. If I was back home, I’d assume whoever killed him had a grudge against him and was displaying his corpse as an example. As it is, I don't know why anyone here would do that. Far as I can tell, no one had a grudge against him.” 

“Obviously it's because you criminals have so much pent up aggression! Once it's out you can't stop!” Kinkuma spoke up, his existential crisis apparently over. “Anyway! Now that you’re all _finally fucking here_ -” 

_Eh?_ I glanced back, noticing Nobu, Kinute, and Akiba walking up, Nobu actually kind of pushing the other two towards the stage, an irritated look on his face while Kinute looked tired and grumpy and Akiba looked amused, the taller boy clearly walking as slow as he could.

“-I’m here to be a very nice game master and explain to you idiots how investigations work! Now as you all heard, I made an announcement when the body of…what's-his-face was found,” Kinkuma continued, adopting a lecturing pose. “That means that you’ve all now entered your investigation period before trial itself starts. Normally, you'd have one hour to investigate, or less if I get bored-” 

_Wait, what? O-One hour? How can we solve a murder in one hour?!_

“-Which, considering you bozos spent so long in that cafeteria, means you'd have around fifty minutes at most this time. But since it’s your first time and you’re all investigative virgins, I'm going to be nice and give you the full hour after I finish my explanation. Don't expect this again.” Kinkuma begins to pace around the stage, his arms behind his back. “In case you didn’t read the rules, which would be stupid of you, the body discovery announcement only goes off after three people find the body, aside from the murderer that is.” _Wait, three people?_ “Once it does go off, it's up to you scum to find evidence through some very fancy, very important methods. Can I have a volunteer for this next part?”

An awkward silence fell over the room, none of us willing to actually help the psychotic bear. As said silence dragged on, Kinkuma slowly started slouching, a sullen expression on his face.

“Hmph...I act nice and I get nothing in return...Hey, you!” he suddenly barked, pointing at Beatrice, who was in the middle of eating one of the bananas I gave her. “Take out your e-handbook or I’ll punish you for eating during my very important explanations!” _What._

I could feel my face pale at his threat, but Beatrice just shrugged in response, setting down her bananas and fishing around in her cloak for the handbook. Thankfully, she took it out before Kinkuma got too impatient. Swallowing the food in her mouth, she looked up at the stage.

“Right, what do you want me to do?” she asked.

“Ah, see! If only the rest of you were so helpful, I might actually...eh, I couldn’t think of anything positive. Anyway! Open up your handbook. See the new icon at the bottom of the screen?” At Beatrice’s nod, Kinkuma chuckled to himself, crossing his arms over his chest. “Good! Now, make sure to aim your e-handbook at me before pressing the icon!”

Hesitantly, Beatrice aimed her e-handbook at Kinkuma before pressing the icon he told her about. As she did so, Kinkuma struck a pose, one hand on his hip and the other behind his back. Suddenly, the screen above the stage lit up as the image of kinkuma striking his pose appeared on it. 

“Now, as my lovely assistant has demonstrated,” Kinkuma said, with Beatrice taking a little theatrical bow at his praise. _Really not the time…_ “Your e-handbooks can now take pictures! Said pictures are what you shall use as evidence in the trial, ‘cause I'm not dragging every piece of evidence you scum find to the trial room. And before you get any dumb ideas, I have access to every photo on your e-handbooks, so no taking nude selfies or dick pics. I can and will show it to everyone and publish it online for shits and giggles.

“Now, before I let you all go on your merry ways, I have one last thing to show you! Given that two of you-” The spotlights from the stage suddenly shined on Nina and Chinatsu. “-decided to cut down the body without taking a picture of it strung up, I took the liberty of getting an image from the camera in the laundry room.” The screen behind him changed again as his smile seemed to grow more sinister. “ _Enjoy~_.” _Oh what the fuck is that…_

Up on screen, we were all shown a truly horrific sight. In the dull lighting of the laundry room, we could see Kimihito hanging just like Chinatsu described, a cord looped around his right ankle leaving him suspended upside down from the ceiling fan in the middle of the room, his left leg hanging up in the air. His jacket was off, letting us see the dozens of wounds covering his chest and arms, deep cuts and gashes carving up his body in a bizarre, bloody tableau, red muscle and torn skin visible through his ripped, bloodstained shirt. His eyes were half open, his expression looking dull and dazed despite the massive gash in his neck, deep enough to show his spine and the chopped open arteries in his throat. A few small streaks of dried blood were visible beneath his body, but what really drew our attention from the gruesome sight were the huge letters behind him, spelling out “NOTICE ME” in bright red blood.

“W-What the fuck!?” Vito screamed as the image of Kimihito appeared on the screen. Next to me, I could hear Beatrice gag, covering her mouth as she tried to hold down her breakfast. And I...I just stared. _Why? Why would anybody do that?_

The grisly image remained up there on the screen for a few minutes, before suddenly being replaced by the words “♠INVESTIGATION START♠”.

“Alright, there we go! Obligatory terrifying of the contestants, check! Now, do you dumbasses have any questions that you absolutely need answered before the investigation officially begins?”

“Yes, actually-” Tadashi began, before Kinkuma pointed at him.

“Your next line will be ‘were you the one that killed Kimihito?’!”

“Uh…No, I wasn’t-”

“Well I’ll answer that one anyway!” Kinkuma shouted over him, adopting a lecturing pose. “In murder mysteries like this, there’s always going to be some moron that doesn’t get the simple fact that one of their is a murderer, so let’s just skip that and say that, yes, one of you did kill Kimihito. I won’t tell you which one of you, but I guarantee that it was one of the contestants in this game. And I don’t count as a contestant, got it?!”

“...Sure, got it. But-”

“Alright, question time over! Now for my dramatic exit!” His part apparently done, Kinkuma promptly backflipped off stage again, this time without a crash. 

Tadashi let out a sigh, mumbling under his breath. “I just was just going to ask-”

“Right!” Hideyoshi abruptly spoke up, clapping his hands together and interrupting Tadashi again, receiving a glare from the annoyed apothecary in response. “Now that we’re all together and are properly informed on what to do, shall we begin the-”

“ONE MORE THING!” Kinkuma suddenly shouted, diving back on stage and flopping on his belly, before twisting onto his side and trying to pose casually. “Ahem. Turns out I forgot to give you guys the Kinfile for this case.”

“...Right. What’s a Kinfile?” Tadashi asked when nobody spoke up, all of us just kind of staring at the weirdo on stage.

“Excellent question, Greeny!” Kinkuma tried to push himself up, flopped over on his back, and then flipped up into doing a handstand. _That is a really dextrous bear._ “Ahem. A Kinfile is my super special cheat sheet for all contestants! Meaning that it’s just a basic summary of the case and a little report on the status of the corpse. Althoooough…” Kinkuma suddenly leers at Kiru, his smile seeming to stretch on his face. Though it did look more like a frown upside-down.

“You guys do have a medic on your team,” he observed, chuckling as Kiru started shifting nervously. “Why don’t I just let him handle the autopsies? Yeah, y’know what, that’s a much better plan!” He suddenly pushes off on his hands, flipping back upright and spinning around to point at Kiru, who immediately flinches. “Congrats Doc! You get to go digging elbow deep in corpses again! Should remind you of home, right?” _The hell does that mean?_

“W-What?” Kiru squeaks, his face completely pale. “B-But, I-I-”

“But but but what? You are a doctor, right? So can’t you just be a pal and help out?”

“I-I’m...I-I-I’m a s-s-surgeon, n-n-not a coroner-”

“Details, details.” Kinkuma waves his hand dismissively. “Anyway, you guys should check your e-handbooks now. The Kinfile will be on-”

“Excuse me.”

“Eh?” Kinkuma pauses, staring over at Miyabi. “The hell do you want?”

“I just wanted to confirm something. You stated that Kiru alone will be handling the autopsy reports?” she asked with a skeptical frown.

“Yeah, that’s what I said. What, you need hearing aids?”

“Not at all. But I do feel I must point out, such an action would give an unfair advantage to Kiru.”

Kinkuma stared at Miyabi, his eye seeming to glow with irritation. “How?” he growled out.

“Kiru would have full control over what information is passed to us in regards to the...cadaver in question. And, if he happens to be the culprit, he could easily falsify information in order to hide his own guilt,” Miyabi explained, her tone calm and even as she stared up at Kinkuma, ignoring the terrified whimper Kiru let out at the implication she thought he could be guilty. _That’s a good point...If a little harsh towards Kiru…_

“Yeah, but he’s not the-” Kinkuma suddenly froze. _Wait...was he about to say Kiru isn’t the killer?_ Silence descended on the main area again as Miyabi smirked up at the silent bear, before he abruptly twitched, visibly shaking in anger. 

“None of you heard that,” he growled out, glaring at Miyabi. “Fine. Doc’s off autopsy duty. I’ll provide a report on the corpse, and you little bastards can do whatever the hell you want to investigate. Assuming none of it violates the rules. 

“Keep a close eye on Doc there though,” he suddenly hissed, now staring at the shaking surgeon. “He might just decide to keep some of the body for himself.” _...The hell does that mean?_

Kiru whimpered again as Kinkuma stomped off the stage, gripping the front of his shirt as he tried to calm down.

“So, what exactly did he mean by that?” Kinute asked, a glaring at Kiru, who flinched again.

“H-He...I-I-” “Doesn’t matter!” Hideyoshi suddenly interrupted, clapping his hands together to get everybody’s attention. “Now that that’s finally over, why don’t we all split up and investigate?”

“Hold on-” [OKAY, SURE.] Akiba typed out, “speaking” over Kinute, who scowled at him. [WHAT’S FIRST, OH FEARLESS LEADER?]

“Good question! Chinatsu, Nina, you two discovered the body, correct?” Hideyoshi asked, pointing at them.

“Yep!” “Yes, we did.” They answered, Nina seeming as cheerful as ever, which was honestly kinda creepy right now given the circumstances, while Chinatsu looked completely serious, her arms crossed over her chest.

“Right, Chinatsu, would you mind leading the investigation in the laundry room then? You do seem to be a very reliable person, and your intimidating presence would likely keep everybody focused on their tasks at hand.” Uh, aren’t we moving a little fast here?

“Hm. I suppose I could,” she replied, considering it for a second. “Alright, sure, I’ll handle the laundry room.”

“You sure that’s such a good idea?” Kinute drawled, eyeing Chinatsu suspiciously. “Big lug like that could do whatever the hell she wants in there if we put her in charge.”

“While I disagree with her phrasing, I do have to admit Kinute has a point,” Nobu spoke up, his notepad out as he kept taking notes on the conversation. “If Chinatsu happened to be the culprit, she could tamper with the crime scene if we left her alone.”

“Well, that’s why Nina-” 

“Her friend?” Nobu interrupted Hide, frowning at him. “I realize it wouldn’t be in her best interests to let Chinatsu tamper with the crime scene, but emotions often get in the way of reason.”

“Hmph, that is very rude, Nobu,” Nina said, pouting. “I assure you, I am not a very emotional person.” _Says the always smiling girl._

“Why don’t we just have someone else watch the body with them?” Tadashi pointed out.

“Tetsu could probably do it,” Kimiko agreed, glancing over at the martial artist, who was still staring up at the screen with a severe frown. “Uh, Tets?”

“Yes, I can handle watching the crime scene,” Tetsu finally replied, turning and heading towards the laundry room. “I will be there if you need me.”

[UH, SHOULDN’T SOMEONE GO WITH HIM?] Akiba asked after Tetsu wandered off.

“You volunteering?” Kinute muttered, before Chinatsu sighed and started following him.

“I’ll be in the laundry room too. Tell me if you guys find anything or decide something important,” she requested, heading after Tetsu.

“Alright, see you then!” Hideyoshi yelled after her, then whirled around and clapped his hands together again. “Right, who here has any investigative experience?”

“Investigative journalist,” Nobu stated as he raised his hand. “I’ve been to a few crime scenes.” A few seconds later, Fuyumi slowly raised her hand too.

“U-Um, I’ve worked as an associate attorney and assistant at my family’s firm for quite a while,” she explained. “My father has taken me on investigations before, and I know how to operate in a crime scene…”

“Good to hear! So nobody else then?” Waiting for someone to speak up, Hide clapped his hands together again. “Okay, you two can handle checking out the laundry room then. I suppose we’ll need to search every area of the casino if we want to be thorough...Most of us can handle looking around out here, right?”

Looking over at the rest of us, Hideyoshi grinned as we all gave varying degrees of affirmatives. “Right then! Okay, I’d say it’d be best for us to split up into groups of at least two, though three would be preferable...I’m sure you can all figure things out. Oh, right, Kiru, do you want to take a look at the corpse? I understand if you don’t, I’m just wondering.” Hide smiled reassuringly at Kiru as the surgeon flinched again, staring back nervously at him. _Poor guy’s a wreck...He really doesn’t handle pressure well…_

“U-Uh...s-sure, I do have the training to perform a medical examination…” Kiru reluctantly admitted, flinching once again when Hide claps his hands together.

“Fantastic! Right, you pair up with Nobu then and head to the laundry room,” Hide decides, walking up to Kiru and leading him over towards a bemused looking Nobu. Pushing them next to each other, Hide then whirls around again to face Fuyumi. “Now, Fuyumi, who would you like to be paired up with?”

“U-Um...I suppose I would prefer to pair up with Atsuko?” _Oh, wow. Should I feel flattered? Ah, but, wait…_

I glanced at Beatrice, who was still looking pretty green. Noticing my gaze, she gave me a shaky thumbs up before Hide suddenly placed a hand on my back, gently, if impatiently, pushing me towards Fuyumi. _Oh okay, this is happening now._

“Excellent! Our primary investigative groups have been decided,” he said after pushing me over next to Fuyumi. “Now, the rest of us should split up into different groups ourselves so we may investigate the different areas of the casino, ensuring that no possible evidence is left unfound! Tadashi, Kimiko, could you check the lounge?”

“Sure, we can handle that.” “Eh? Handle what?” Tadashi sighed as Kimiko glanced up at him, fiddling with her unlit lighter in an attempt to relight it.

“Hah! Now then, Miyabi, Nina, would you two mind investigating the Court of Coins?”

“I suppose that would be agreeable.” “Sure, sure! We will leave no coin unturned!” Nina beamed happily as she headed over to Miyabi, who raised an eyebrow at the smaller girl, but then seemed to accept her presence.

“Vito and I can handle searching the main floor, right Vito?”

“Yeah, definitely!” Vito replied, grinning and giving Hide a thumbs up, before yawning. “A-Ah, give me a moment though, per favore…”

“Sure, sure, take as long as you need. Now, that leaves Beatrice, Akiba, and Kinute, right? Would you three mind looking in the kitchen?”

“Why do I-” [CAN DO BOSS!] “Sure, we can handle it.” Kinute’s eye twitches as she scowls at Akiba and Beatrice, both of them smirking back at her before grinning at each other. _Well, at least she’ll have fun messing with Kinute._

“Fantastic!” Hide claps one more time, grinning widely. “Now that our groups are decided, let us begin the investigation! Everybody, let’s meet up in the cafeteria once we’re certain that we’ve found every bit of evidence we can possibly discover. We can discuss our findings there, provided we have time.”

And with that, our investigation officially started.

\---:---

It was weird how different the laundry room looked. Just yesterday, it was as drab and ordinary as ever. Today though, the stench of blood filled the air, a kind of odd, coppery, metallic scent. The source was pretty obvious.

Kimihito’s body had been cut down from where he’d been suspended, part of the cord still hanging from the ceiling fan, and had been laid down on the right side of the washing machine “rectangle”, a white sheet covering the corpse. A series of blood splatters covered the top of the washing machines in the center, and a large smear of dried blood was spread across the floor on the left of the machines. Streaks of blood lead up the left-hand side of the machines, towards the blood splatters, like somebody dragged something across its surface. Probably whoever hung up his body, judging by the bloody footprints on top of the machine and leading around the room.

Tetsu and Chinatsu were over by the far wall, where the words “NOTICE ME” had been scrawled in blood, the two of them chatting in low voices when we walked in. Chinatsu looked up, a grim look on her face when she saw us.

“Hey. I’m guessing you guys are our investigators?” she asked, looking over each of us. Her frown tightened slightly when she saw Fuyumi, but she didn’t say anything. _Right, I should ask her what’s up with her and Chinatsu...After the investigation._ “Feel free to look around. We’ve stuck to this area so far.”

“Well, thank you for not wandering around and contaminating the crime scene,” Nobu...thanked her? _That sounded really backhanded._

“You’re welcome,” Chinatsu replied dryly, leaning against the right hand wall. “We’ll be over here if you need us.”

“Hm. I suppose that leaves me in charge of decision making,” Nobu noted, before turning to us. “Firstly, Kiru, I want you to investigate the body thoroughly. I understand you don’t have full training as a coroner, but any information can be helpful. As such, I’m expecting you to report back to us _accurately_. Kinkuma essentially confirmed for us that you’re not the culprit, so I’m willing to extend the benefit of doubt to you. Don’t make me regret it.”

“R-Right. U-Understood,” Kiru replied, clearly still very nervous. Nevertheless, he did head over to the body and pulled back the sheet- _Okay, no, not looking. Once was more than enough._

I stared steadily at Nobu as he continued, trying to ignore how Kiru was examining the chopped up corpse. “Secondly, you two can check out the disposal room.”

“Er, what? Why do you want us to check there?” I asked, only for him to stare at me like I was an idiot. Again.

“Because the first thing a killer would want to do in this sort of situation is remove all evidence from the crime scene. So, logically, it would be good to check if they had the ability to do so.”

“Oh, because the person on trash duty changes,” Fuyumi chimed in, a look of realization on her face. “If they weren’t able to dispose of evidence using the disposal chutes, that would rule out the person with the keys.”

“True,” Nobu noted, nodding. “Or they could wind up hiding evidence improperly because they couldn’t access any proper methods. Either way, it’s worth checking out, and it’s better than you two just standing around.”

“Hey, we could be helpful-” I started, only for Nobu to stare blankly at me again.

“You could. You could also go running off with no information. Again.” _Asshole._ “So check out the disposal room and leave me to investigate.”

“Let’s just do what he says for now,” Fuyumi spoke up, taking my hand and leading me to the trash room, even as I glared back at Nobu, who looked as neutral as ever.

\----:----

The waste disposal room honestly didn’t look as different from when I last saw it, but that did make the actual differences there much more noticeable. Like the trail of bloody footprints leading first to the trash chute, then to incinerator, which had a broom sticking through its handles like some kind of makeshift lock. _Well that’s not suspicious._

“Whoever did this wasn’t very bright,” I muttered, walking over to the incinerator.

“Or they were in a panic,” Fuyumi noted, looking down at the footprints. She crouched down, staring at the pattern they made on the ground. “Hmm...so the culprit entered the disposal room, likely attempting to get rid of the murder weapon or other forms of evidence.” She stood up, pointing at the trail leading to the trash chute. “They first attempted to open up the trash chutes. So either they forgot they were locked, or they had the key to open them…”

“Which is it?” I asked, taking the sign up sheet off the wall by the incinerator. _Huh. Hideyoshi was on trash duty this week...That’s probably significant._

“Hm...judging by the state of the lock, I doubt it was the latter,” Fuyumi pointed out, checking the lock on the waste chute door. The thing looked like somebody took a hammer to it, a bunch of large dents covering the area of the door around its lock. But it was clearly keeping the chute still locked. “The culprit didn’t remember the chutes were locked, and didn’t have access to the keys, so they panicked and attempted to break it open.” _Hm. I guess that rules out Hide then? Maybe._

“But with what?” she continued, studying the lock intently.

“Maybe whatever they shoved in the incinerator?” I suggested, about to pull the broom out of the handles.

“Ah, wait! One second, please!”

“Eh? What’s up?”

“We should take some pictures of this first,” she explained, taking out her e-handbook and first snapping a photo of the waste chute door, before backing up and taking some photos of the footprints covering the ground.

“Oh, right.” Taking a step back, I set the sign-up sheet back on the wall and took out my own handbook. As I booted it up, I noticed a new little icon next to the camera icon. _Looks like a little file. Is this the Kinfile he mentioned?_

Pressing on it, I did not find the Kinfile. No, instead I found a picture of Kinkuma posing up on stage. _The hell? Didn’t Beatrice take this?_

“Uh…” I tried to swipe the screen to move the picture off, but the image stayed put. “Hey, Fuyumi, can you check the file icon on your handbook?”

“Oh, of course,” she replied, pressing the icon. “Ah, so these are the pictures I have taken so far. ...And there is also one of Kinkuma. Odd.”

“Really? There’s one for you too? Why are-”

“I CAN ANSWER THAT!” Both Fuyumi and I jumped and definitely did not shriek at the sudden interruption, punctuated by Kinkuma dropping from the ceiling and onto his head. Flopping down onto his back, the psychotic bear grinned up at us. “Ahem! You see, that little file icon there is where the e-handbooks store all saved photo-data-stuff on their...harddrives? Whatever they’re called, I’m not a tech person. Bear. Techno bear? Now what would that look like...”

“So why is there a picture of you on here?” I asked before he could go on another existential journey.

“Oh, that’s easy. All the e-handbooks are on the same...server, thing. Whatever. So they can share photos between each other, but only when I say so. So don’t worry, all your little candid photos are between you and me!” _...Ew, ew, ew, ew no no no out damned thoughts._

“Wait, people can keep their photos private?” Fuyumi spoke up, looking worried as she stares down at the bear. “Wouldn’t that mean that they could hide any evidence they find from the rest of us?”

“Pft, no. Didn’t you hear me? You need hearing aids more than you need glasses,” Kinkuma replied, smirking up at her. “I have full admin rights! Which means any photo you guys put on there, I have access to, and any photos you take prior to a class trial, I will be making available to everybody at the trial. So be careful about the photos you take. Wouldn’t want the rest of the group to see your nudes~.” _Resist temptation to stomp on his face. Resist._

“Anyway, that pretty much means you guys can do whatever you want with your photos prior to the class trial. Except, y’know, delete them. Because that’s not something I’d let you do. But why would you? You should cherish every single photo you get!” _I can think of one photo I want to delete already. ...Brain, no, don’t start thinking about Kinkuma nudes. He doesn’t even wear clothes…_

“Alright, that all? Because while the view down here is great, I do have a pot of honey to return to.” It was at that moment that I noticed how Kinkuma was positioned on the floor. More specifically, the angle he was looking up at both of us from. It was also then that I remembered I was wearing a skirt.

My first immediate thought was _Wait, he can eat?_ My second, of course, was _SON OF A_ -

Resisting the urge to crush the bear’s face with my foot, I stepped back, giving him room to jump to his feet. “Heh! Best of luck, chuckle heads! I’ll see you at the trial!” With that said, he leapt for the ceiling, smashed right into a tile, and then fell back down, twitching.

“...Should we-” “Leave it,” I interrupted Fuyumi, heading back to the incinerator and taking a picture of the broom shoved through its handles, then another picture of the sign-up sheet. “Right, now that that’s out of the way, let’s see what our culprit was so desperate to hide.”

I promptly yanked the broom out of the handle and handed it to Fuyumi, then opened up the incinerator and peeked inside. “It is ridiculously dark in here.”

“Well, that’s probably a good thing, right? If it was lit up…” _Oh yeah, this is a furnace. ...Ugh, that’d be a nasty way to go._

Shaking those gruesome thoughts out of my head, I reached into the incinerator, feeling around in the dark for whatever the culprit wanted to keep us from getting to. “Okay, feeling some ash...lots of dust and ash in here...Ah, wait, I-No, that’s...that’s a clump of soot. Ugh, maybe-” Suddenly my fingers brushed up against something hard in the pile of ash. “Oh? Ah hah! I think I found-Gah!”

“Ah! A-Are you okay?” Fuyumi asked worriedly as I rubbed my head, having banged my skull against the top of the incinerator.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Stings though…” I grumbled, before leaning forward again and trying to grab the object my fingers brushed against. Finally, I managed to grab ahold of its handle, and pulled the heavy object up with me out of the incinerator. “Gotcha! Alright, now, what’s-Wait, what?”

I stared at the object in my hands, its surface completely black with ash. “Is that a wrench?” Fuyumi asked, staring at it before taking a picture with her handbook.

“Yeah, I think? Why would somebody put a wrench in the incinerator?” I wondered.

“Well that’s for you gals to find out!” Kinkuma suddenly spoke up from the floor, propping himself up on his hand. “And you better do that in...uh...wait, crap, when did I start the timer…”

“Let’s report back to Nobu before he figures that out,” I muttered, grabbing Fuyumi’s hand with my free one and leading her back towards the laundry room.

“Feh, fine! Just leave your beloved Game Master on the floor to wallow in anguish!” Kinkuma whined, flopping dramatically on the floor. “So this is how I die...well, at least I got a glimpse of heaven before I perish. Thanks for that, kitty cat!” _………….I wonder if chucking him in the incinerator would count as assaulting the game master...Could still be worth it…_

\---:---

Back in the laundry room, Nobu’s side of the investigation seemed to be progressing pretty well. The journalist himself was up on the washing machines, examining the cord looped around the ceiling fan and scribbling down notes about it, while Kiru was still examining the corpse- _Nope, nope, don’t look._

I couldn’t help shuddering as I averted my eyes. _Who would even do something like that? ...Well, one of us, apparently..._ Shaking my head to clear those thoughts, I called out to Nobu. “Hey Nobu! We found something.”

“Hm? What is it?” he asked, ducking down and climbing off the washing machines.

“Some kind of wrench. It was in the incinerator,” I explained. “I think it came with the toolbox that’s been in here for a while?”

“The incinerator was also barred with a broom when we looked in there,” Fuyumi spoke up. “In addition, someone, likely the culprit, attempted to break open the lock on the trash chute. There were bloody footprints leading to both the trash chute and the incinerator.”

“So our culprit didn’t have access to the disposal chutes, leading them to try to hide this wrench in the incinerator,” Nobu mused, noting down what we were saying. “But why bar it with a broom? It would only serve to draw attention to the incinerator.”

“Based on the erratic positioning of the footprints, I imagine the culprit was quite panicked at that point and only thought of preventing people from discovering the wrench,” Fuyumi said. “They may not have been acting rationally at that point.”

“Interesting...but why hide the wrench? How is it important to our case?”

“Uh, I might be able to answer that,” Kiru answered, standing up and brushing himself off before looking over at us. “K-...The victim’s body shows signs of blunt force trauma. Particularly around the back of the head, where something struck the victim with enough force to fracture his skull, and the forehead, where there is noticeable bruising along the temple and over the left eye. Is there any sort of impact point over there?”

“It would be difficult to tell. Most of the washing machine’s surface on this side is covered with blood,” Nobu replied, crouching down again as he looked at the machine in question. “Although...is this a dent here?” He pointed to sort of “lip” of the washing machine, where the side connected to the top. 

“If it is, it might help with my theory,” Kiru spoke up again, moving over to us.

“Which is?” Fuyumi asked.

“That our victim might’ve been killed by blow to the back of the head, and his body was...mutilated post-mortem,” Kiru explained. _Okay, what? I’m lost. Why would the killer chop up his body after killing him?_

“Really? Huh, that would explain some things…” Nobu stood up again, turning to Fuyumi and Kiru. “Would you two mind going over your findings with me? I think we might be onto something.”

“Uh, what about me?” I asked, getting an annoyed look from Nobu.

“Just...do whatever. Leave the wrench.” _Okay, rude._ I glanced at Fuyumi, who gave me a helpless shrug in response.

I sighed. “Fine, fine, you three have fun. Fuyumi, shout if you need me, okay?”

“O-Okay,” Fuyumi replied, nodding slowly as I set the wrench down on the washing machine and headed over to Chinatsu and Tetsu.

“So, what’re you two up to?” I asked while Fuyumi, Nobu, and Kiru went over their findings. 

“Mostly just waiting for the brainiacs of the group to figure everything out,” Chinatsu replied with a lazy smirk. _Wait, do I not count as a brainiac? What the hell…_ “Speaking of which, are you getting along with Raito?”

_Raito? Oh, right._ “You mean Fuyumi? Yeah, I guess we’re getting along. ...Why?”

“Just curious,” she replied, leaning against the wall again. _Should I ask? No, I’d better ask Fuyumi first...it’s her story to tell._

“Excuse me, Atsuko,” Tetsu suddenly spoke up, looking at me curiously.

“What’s up?”

“Have you always had freckles?” _...What._

I could hear Chinatsu sigh in annoyance. “Really dude?”

“What?” Tetsu sounded honestly confused. _How long…_

“If she was keeping them covered up, do you really think she wanted people to talk about them?”

“Oh. Ah, my apologies. I did not realize.”

“U-Um...h-how long have they, uh, been showing?” I asked, trying not to freak out. _Calm down, calm down, a lot worse stuff has been happening, this is...this is nothing to worry about._

“Shit, uh...Since I saw you this morning?” Chinatsu offered, scratching the back of her head. “When everybody met up at the stage. Your, uh...Your eyes were pretty puffy, so I figured you must’ve been crying and, well…” _Right. Right, shit, I wiped it off with the handkerchief...Did nobody even notice?_

“Why, um...why didn’t you say anything?”

“Like I said to Tets, you shouldn’t bring up shit people don’t like talking about,” Chinatsu explained, shrugging. “I figured you’d notice at some point and fix it up. Though I guess that wouldn’t be too likely considering all the shit that went down.”

_Right. Right. Murder investigation. Worry about freckles later._ “S-Speaking of which, have you two noticed anything?”

“Well, yeah, I did kinda discover the scene,” Chinatsu replied with a smirk, apparently accepting my sudden topic change. _...Right._ “Like I said before, this whole killing was surprisingly brutal. I didn’t realize we’d have a complete psycho in our group, but, well, those kinds of people can catch you off guard. Reminds me of this serial killer that showed up back home in Sapporo, started off going after vagrants then escalated to civilians.” She suddenly frowned angrily. “Boss wound up putting out a hit on the guy because he was scaring off business...and he happened to kill somebody...in our group, let’s say. Me and a couple guys took him down him after that.”

Chinatsu sighed, before smirking again. “He stopped being a problem after we got through with him. Anyway, it turned out he was just some normal salaryman. Worked hard most of the time and spent his days off gutting people and collecting their ribs.” _Well that’s horrific._

“And?” I had to ask, not sure if this story actually had a point.

“Eh? Oh, right. So, yeah, odds are this wasn’t any sort of grudge or revenge killing, but just some nutjob who gets off on cutting people up,” Chinatsu explained. “Considering how they decided to paint ‘notice me’ in the poor guy’s blood, they probably have quite a few screws loose.”

“Excuse me? This is not blood,” Tetsu suddenly spoke up with a bemused frown, getting confused looks from me and Chinatsu. “It smells of paint, not blood.” _...Paint?_

“The hell are you talking about?” Chinatsu asked, frowning at the wall. Suddenly, she leaned forward and sniffed. “Holy shit, it’s not blood. The hell…?”

“Is that significant?” Tetsu asked curiously, looking between Chinatsu and the wall.

“It could be,” I answered him, leaning forward and taking a sniff myself. _Hm...yeah, I guess it smells like paint? The area around the washing machines reek of blood, but this spot…_

I glanced at the blood on the floor, then back at the wall. _The color’s off…_ “Tetsu, this might actually be pretty important. How did the culprit get paint?”

He blinked at me, then shrugged while Chinatsu looked thoughtful, the tall girl musing to herself out loud. “There weren’t any cans of paint around the laundry room...none in the main area, and none around the lounge, kitchen, and dining hall…”

“So either someone has a supply of paint we don’t know about, or our culprit bought some from the Court of Coins,” I concluded, before grinning at Tetsu and Chinatsu. “Okay, this could actually be pretty big. Is it alright if I head over there to check things out?”

“Fine by me.” “I have no issue with that action.” Chinatsu and Tetsu replied. Nodding to the two of them, I headed for the entrance to the laundry room, grabbing Fuyumi’s hand and pulling the surprised girl along with me as I went.

“Sorry, borrowing my teammate for a bit!” I shouted back at a perplexed looking Nobu. 

“A-Atsuko, w-where are we-” 

“To the Court of Coins. Let’s see if there’s anything there that’ll help us out.” As we headed out of the laundry and towards the court, I couldn’t help grinning. _We’re closing in on you, whoever you are...Hm, I wonder what it says about me that I’m actually enjoying this investigation?_

_...I wonder what it says about all of us that we’ve adapted to this horrorshow so quickly…_

\----:----

“What the hell happened here?” I couldn’t help asking as we entered the Court of Coins. The gaudy store looked like it had been hit by a localized earthquake, all of its display items haphazardly strewn across the floor and shelves. 

“Um, perhaps-...Uhhh…” Fuyumi trailed off, staring at- _Okay, what._

The obvious culprits of the store’s weird vandalism, namely Nina and Miyabi, were currently in the middle of their search of the room. Which involved checking under the vending machine. Which meant that Nina, displaying a surprising amount of strength in spite of her slender frame, was currently lifting the vending machine, which was probably two hundred pounds at the _very least_ , with no real visible effort so Miyabi could look under it. _I guess she was being serious about leaving no coin unturned…_

“Hm...There do appear to be some golcoins under here,” Miyabi observed, laying down on the floor as she searched under the machine, her heels set down off to the side. “At least ten, which is fairly pleasant to find. Nothing that could be used a murder weapon though.”

“Ah, shame,” Nina replied, actually frowning for once. “Alright, please get out from under the machine. It is rather heavy.”

“Fine, fine, one moment.” Miyabi got to her feet, brushing off her suit while Nina set the machine down again. “I suppose we should check the capsule machine next-Oh, hello Atsuko and Fuyumi.”

“Uh, hi,” I replied, raising a hand in greeting, Fuyumi doing the same beside me. “Er...what are you two doing?”

“Searching, of course,” Miyabi responded as she put her shoes back on. “Ah, there we go.” She smiled, crossing her arms under her chest. “You see, Nina suggested we take our time to see if there is anything that could be used as a weapon being sold in the court. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to find any bladed implements that could actually...mutilate, shall we say, a human body in the manner shown to us.”

“I can confirm that,” Nina spoke up, pouting as she leaned against the vending machine. “There are no knives, no swords, no cutting implements on display, nor anything that is not a blunt replica being sold in the machine. The murderer has not hidden their weapon here either, as we have quite thoroughly searched the court before you arrived.” She sighs, laying her head against the machine. “And I had hoped we would actually get to do something useful…”

“D-Don’t blame yourself,” Fuyumi said, trying to smile reassuringly at Nina. “It’s not like we had any time to prepare for this...investigation. It was forced on us out of nowhere…”

_I realize she’s trying to be nice, but that actually kinda brought down the mood a whole lot…_ I thought, before Fuyumi suddenly looked up at me.

“Um, speaking of the investigation, why did you want to come here?”

“Yes, why are you here?” Miyabi asked, walking up to us. And standing over us. _...She is very tall._ “Weren’t you two supposed to look in the laundry room? Did something happen?” _Oh no, did I make her worry? Wait, wait, no, calm down, calm…_

Taking a breath to compose myself and trying to grin up at her, even as I felt my face getting hot, I tried to reply to her. “R-Right, uh, we-w-well, I, wanted to ask you two i-if, ah…” I gulped, steadying myself. “H-Have you two seen any paint cans around here? Specifically, a kind of dark red paint.”

“Oh, yes!” Nina perked up, grinning at me. “We did in fact find the paint cans you speak of!” She headed over to court’s counter, near the right wall, and chucked a pretty fancy looking embroidered blanket off it, revealing...a little pyramid of paint cans. _Huh._

“I stacked them over here so they would be out of the way!” she explained, gesturing to them. “Though I do have to warn you, we only have one of the red paint cans you requested. Which is fairly odd since the other colors all have two, but I suppose Kinkuma became lazy in stocking, yes?”

“Maybe not,” I muttered, walking over to the cans. It was exactly as Nina said. Each can came in a pair, two of each color. All except the red paint, which only had one can. _Right, that’s definitely important. Heh, take that Nobu, I am useful!_

I took a picture of the paint cans, then grabbed the remaining red one, grinning as I turned back to the other girls. “Right, thanks Nina! If I’m right, the killer didn’t actually use blood to paint the walls, they used this instead. Or, well, its twin. Partner. Pair? Whatever.”

“W-Wait, really?” Fuyumi asked, staring at the can. “Oh...Oh, hm…If the culprit obtained a can of paint from the court, then...I’m not actually sure what that would mean.”

“Yeah, I’m not either. Still, probably important, right?” I grinned, honestly feeling pretty happy with myself. “Well, sorry to run out on you two so quickly, but I think we should probably compare the paint in here to the stuff on the wall. You know, to make sure it matches.”

“Heh. Well, don’t let us keep you,” Miyabi replied, taking a step to the side to let me pass. With a grateful smile, I headed towards the entrance of the court when a ton of alarms suddenly went off and the shutters above the court’s entrance slammed shut, locking us in.

“STOP RIGHT THERE, CRIMINAL SCUM!” Kinkuma barked out as he popped up from behind the counter, a flashing red siren on top of his head. “I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO DEFILE THE SANCTITY OF-Oh, wait, it’s just you, Kitty.” _Oh goddammit._ “What, are you trying to get the title of Ultimate Cat Burglar too?” _I am going to gouge his eyes out. I will do it. I will do it and it will bring me the greatest feeling of joy I have ever experienced._

Sincerely hoping nobody asked why Kinkuma had a new nickname for me, I turned to face the aggravating asshole of a bear, the alarms shutting off as I did so. “Hi Kinkuma. What the fuck?” I asked, entirely done with this situation.

“Excuse you, that’s ‘what the fuck, sir,’” he demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I will call you sir when the sun dies and we’re all plunged into a screaming black void.” Judging by the way Fuyumi, Miyabi, and Nina were all staring at me, I said that out loud. 

“Yeesh, rude. Anyway, why are you trying to steal my merchandise?” Kinkuma asked, leaning on the counter, his little siren falling off and landing behind the counter. “Why not go for an easier target? One that isn’t protected by the rules, like Whitey’s hat or Big Tit’s skirt?” He suddenly leaned further forward, leering at me. “Or did you just want to see me again~? I’d always appreciate another free show~” _Fuck gouging his eyes out, I’m going to rip out his fingernails. Claws. ...Fuck it, I’ll just pull out his teeth._

“Um, actually, Kinkuma, you never set a rule that we can’t steal from the court,” Fuyumi pointed out. The way Kinkuma stared at her before slumping on the counter in obvious dejection immediately solidified my decision to buy her a really fancy gift from the court when we were done with all this bullshit.

“Whyyyyy…” he moaned, sulking on the counter. “Why do these stupid bastards keep making me wooooooork...uuuuuuugh…” 

“It is okay,” Nina...comforted him(!?), actually patting Kinkuma’s head. “It is not your fault that your terrible death game is inherently flawed and you are horrible at designing rules for it.” _Ah. Mean, yet entirely justified._

“UUuuuuuuuuuuughhhh…” Kinkuma continued moaning, turning to stare up at Nina. “You’re terrible at comforting people.”

“First, you are a bear, not a person. Second, my statement was not intended to be comforting. I am a hunter, not a therapist.”

“Bleh. You suck, Whitey.” Kinkuma huffed, sitting up on the counter and staring out at the rest of us as Nina dropped her hand from his head to her side. “Hey, I didn’t tell ya to stop! Keep patting-!”

“No.”

“...Feh. Anyway! New rule, no stealing from the Court of Coins. Will update the rules in, like...less than hour, I guess.” Kinkuma shrugged, before smirking. “Though that does remind me. You gals should check your e-handbooks, because I just did something super nice for everybody!” _I seriously doubt that._

Taking out my handbook, I turned it on, and immediately noticed the little Kinkuma symbol next to the file symbol on the screen. _This is probably going to suck._ Despite my apprehensions, I pressed the symbol, switching the screen to a document and a picture of a dark outline in the shape of a human figure, familiar looking marks across its body shown in bright pink.

\--♠♠♠--

**THE KINFILE! :D** \- A super special document provided to all stupid criminals for the purpose of their pathetic investigations! (Copyright Kiniro Industries, do not steal!!  >:( )

** So what happened (this time)? **

**Deceased** : ...Fuck, I actually forgot his name...Eh, Gene Eric or something like that. (Ah, wait, remembered! Kimihito Yamazaki! ...Yeesh, might as well have gone with Gene Eric. Sounds better.)

**Time of Death** : Fucked if I know. Probably some time between 11 and 12 at night. This is why curfew is in place kids! Wandering around in the dark just gets your throat cut.

**Time of Discovery** : 8:37 AM.

**Cause of Death** : Oh gee willickers, I wonder what could’ve possibly killed the guy chopped up and hung like a slab of meat? Seriously, you shouldn’t need me for this one.

**Location** : Laundry Room, hanging from the ceiling fan. 

**Fun Fact** : Kimihito Yamazaki was the seventh son of his family. The runt of the litter, he went unnoticed for most of his life, and was drawn to studying the history of the world because he found it fascinating to learn about not only the famous figures of history, but the more obscure, barely known people who were often overlooked. Deep down, he felt a connection to every person who was essentially forgotten by history, and strove to become recognized in his own field by revealing these unseen people to the world. Shame he never will now.

He also had a cat. Wonder what it’ll do without him?

\--♠♠♠--

“Was that last part really necessary?” I asked, a heavy weight settling in my chest. 

“Of course it was!” Kinkuma replied cheerfully, rocking back and forth on the counter. “How else will you guys ever learn about his rich backstory? Not like he’s around to tell it to you now!”

“Is this a joke to you?” I bit out. I don’t know if my hands were trembling with sadness, or shaking with rage...

“No, of course not!” His grin seemed to stretch, his eye gleaming with malice. “It’s a _game_. A game of life and death. A game of _justice_. A young man was murdered last night for a purely selfish reason. Are you going to let the murderer get away with it? Are you going to stand tall and bring down the murderer that butchered your fellow contestant, or are you going to be crushed under the weight of our fair Lady’s judgment?”

He leaned forward, a twisted giggle emanating from his stretched mouth. “I can’t wait to see what the outcome will be~.” And then the oppressive atmosphere promptly broke, Kinkuma leaning back with a cheerful chuckle. “Well, now that the file is delivered and a new rule’s been instated, I have no reason to stick around! See you at the trial everybody! Don’t be late!”

With that said, he reached a hand up towards the ceiling, a rope descending down from a hole above into his hand. Grabbing onto it, he gave us a jaunty wave before suddenly being yanked up through the hole, which immediately closed.

“Well. That was certainly an experience,” Miyabi stated, frowning up at the ceiling. 

“That's one way to put it,” I muttered, placing the red paint can back on the pyramid Nina made. “Well, we’ve probably spent too much time here. See you two at the trial, I’m going to look around some more. C’mon Fuyu-...Why are the shutters still down?” 

At my question, the other three girls stared at the entrance to the Court. Which currently had metal shutters covering it completely, locking us in.

“Um...Did he forget to open the entrance?” Fuyumi asked, looking back at me nervously.

“Knowing him, he did it on purpose,” I grumbled, then glared up at the ceiling. “HEY KINKUMA! OPEN THE DOOR YOU JACKASS!”

About three minutes passed before I sighed in annoyance and looked back at my fellow contestants. “Right, he’s either not listening or deliberately ignoring us. ...Uh, what? Is there something on my face?” _Why’s everybody staring at me?_

“Aside from new freckles that were not there before,” Nina spoke up, smirking cheerfully at me. “You have a very loud voice, Ms. Oko.”

_Oh...right._ I blushed at her comment, scratching my head sheepishly. “Y-Yeah, I guess I do. Sorry, he just really makes me angry.” I sighed, leaning back against the wall by the Golmachine.

“It’s understandable,” Miyabi replied with a smile, leaning against the counter before looking thoughtful. “Hm...do you suppose Kinkuma is going to keep us in here until the trial starts?”

“Th-That wouldn’t be very fair, would it?” Fuyumi asked, glancing around nervously. “I-I mean, he did emphasize that this should be a fair contest, right?”

“Heh. I am not so sure about that,” Nina replied, grinning as she sat down, cross-legged, on the floor by the counter. “After all, this kinfile is very vague on it's details. No concrete time of death, no concrete cause of death. It seems Kinkuma only gave us information we already had. Well, aside from the details about Kimihito’s past, which were likely only added to make us feel sad about his death.”

“You say that like you’re not upset about his murder,” Miyabi pointed out, frowning at Nina.

“Eh.” She shrugged in reply, smiling as usual. “I did not know him that well. Hm...Perhaps that is why our killer chose Kimihito as a target? He is someone who does not stand out, and could easily be dismissed as unimportant, possibly soothing their conscience?”

“Then why display his corpse?” Miyabi asked, looking uncomfortable. “Why...Why cut him up like that? W-Why torture him?” _Oh. She’s a lot more rattled by this than I thought…_

“Who could know? The killer could simply be a sadist.”

“I don’t think that’s it,” Fuyumi muttered, then stiffened when Nina’s gazed turned on her. “U-Um, well, it's just...I was talking with Nobu and Kiru earlier. According to Kiru the…v-various cuts were done post mortem. If they wanted to t-torture him, why would they do them after he died?” As Fuyumi’s spoke, Miyabi’s face began to pale. 

“Why…Who would…?” 

“Well that’s pointless,” Nina interrupted her, frowning in annoyance. “Cutting up a corpse like that is entirely unnecessary. There is no reasonable purpose behind it, just empty impulsiveness.” _Impulsiveness? No, I don’t think this was done on impulse...There was definitely a purpose behind it…_

“Maybe they wanted to hide the real cause of death?” I suggested. “We found a wrench in the incinerator, and it seems like the killer really wanted to hide it. So they might’ve tried to hide the cause of death.”

“Hmm…” Fuyumi hummed in thought, before speaking up. “With the evidence we have, that possibility _would_ make the most sense. I've been on a few cases where something similar to that has happened. Someone tried to hide one crime by committing a worse one, usually in an attempt to distract from the initial offense. I suppose if the culprit was panicked enough, which they certainly were based on the sloppy job they did hiding the wrench...hm…”

Fuyumi trails off, clearly deep in thought over the killer’s possible motivations, leaving the rest of us in a thoughtful silence. Which gradually became an awkward one since none of us seemed to be sure if we should speak up or not. _Welcome back, awkward silence. I did not miss you._

“Oh, before I forget.” _Ah, thank you for breaking the quiet, Nina._ “Why did Kinkuma call you Kitty?” _Goddammit Nina._

“U-Um...I’m not sure, actually,” I replied, trying to ignore how hot my face was getting. “He’s probably just trying to annoy me again. He does seem to like making fun of me…”

I smiled awkwardly at Nina and Miyabi’s curious looks, before deliberately looking away from them and letting myself sink down the wall to the floor. After a few seconds, I glanced back to see if they were still staring at me. Thankfully, Nina seemed to had been distracted by a rubix cube on the floor which she was fiddling with, though Miyabi was still staring at me. With a small smirk. _Um...should I say something?_

Looking down at me, Miyabi smiled a bit wider. “Just a suggestion, but you should fix your skirt, Kitten.” _...E-Eh?_

Taking her advice, I adjusted my sitting position, and tried very hard not to look at the amused seamstress. _Is it wrong that I really want the trial to start soon?_

**FIFTEEN CRIMINALS REMAINING**

\---♠---

**Kinirokuma Theater** : ♠

_Kinkuma sits on a stage, one spotlight illuminating him as he stares out into an empty audience. Behind him, the marble bust of some old man stares out into the crowd, its expression blank._

“If I were to die, I think I’d like to be reincarnated as a bee. Hear me out, okay? See, bees are little drones, just busy little workers that do what their boss says without any thought or reasoning behind it. Kinda like humans. But, unlike humans, they don’t have any of that messy, stupid emotion behind their actions. When you’re a bee, you just do your job and live your life! You’ve never heard of a bee getting in a debaucherous tryst or becoming a serial killer, have you? Nope, nope, they just live their busy lives without regret. Hell, they even kill themselves just to hurt other animals! Isn’t that a much better way to go out then laying in bed with a bunch of weepy jerks standing around you? So yeah, bees are just fun, spite-filled little bugs. Plus, they’re also half-gold! So I get to keep my shiny coat! Ha! So enjoy your miserable lives as earthworms, I’m going to join the bee kingdom!”

_Curtains close._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: And so the investigation into Kimihito Yamazaki's murder begins! With a few little missteps, of course.
> 
> Indi Smile: Even though we made him purposefully generic his genericness gave him a certain charm. He shall be missed.
> 
> That he will. Ah well. Tune in next time for the end of the investigation, and (maybe) the beginning of the first trial. Thank you all for reading!


	6. Investigation Ends, and the Trial begins!

**Chapter 6**

“ **ATTENTION CONTESTANTS!** ” Kinkuma finally spoke up after what felt like far too much time. “ **It’s time for the class trial! Hope you guys got to investigate everything and didn’t wind up locked inside a room for the duration of your investigation!** ” _Fucking asshole…_

The shutters blocking the entrance to the Court of Coin finally lifted back up, opening up the way back into the main area of the casino. “ **Oh, and before I forget, everybody has to head to where the statue of my lovely face is! I'll be leading you morons to the trial area from there. DON’T BE LATE!** ” 

“Stupid prick,” I muttered under my breath as I stood up. “Seriously, he could’ve at least let us out a few minutes ago so we could talk to the others...” 

“Well, there is no point in complaining now, yes?” Nina spoke up, tossing another solved rubix cube onto her pile of solved ones as she stood up too, stretching her arms above her head as she did so. “Mmm...Ah, perhaps we will be lucky and our fellow investigators will know who the killer is?”

_I really doubt it'll be that easy._ I thought to myself as I started heading towards the main area, Fuyumi, Miyabi, and Nina following behind me. _We haven’t exactly had the best run of luck lately._

“Hm. I suppose there is no shame in being positive,” Miyabi mused as we walked towards the giant golden Kinkuma head. “Fuyumi, have you had any luck in solving the case?”

“E-Eh? Um, no, not really,” she replied, her arms crossed over her chest. “I just...I can’t figure out why the culprit would go to the trouble of mutilating the corpse after killing him…”

“What if they became out of control?” Nina asked with her usual grin. “You said the killer was panicked, yes? So perhaps they lost their mind from fear and decided to go, um...overboard, I think it is.”

“I did consider something like that, but...” Fuyumi frowned, looking deep in thought as we approached the golden head, a few people, namely Chinatsu, Tetsu, Nobu, Kiru, Hideyoshi and Vito, were already gathered there. “No, it doesn’t seem right that this was a crime of passion and panic. There are too many inconsistencies-”

Before she could finish her thought, Nobu suddenly split off from the group and grabbed Fuyumi by the wrist. 

“Hey-” I was about to call him out when he grabbed my wrist too and dragged us over by one of the roulette tables, looking agitated as he let go of us. “Ow! Jeez, what’s your problem?” _That actually stings pretty bad, asshole._

“How much did you tell those two?” he hissed, glaring at us before straightening up and taking a deep breath. Behind him, I could see Nina and Miyabi frowning at him, before the two of them walked over to join the rest of the group. “Right, sorry about that. I’m...a little stressed. There’s far too much information missing in this case...Just, please, tell me you didn’t tell them anything. It would make things much simpler.”

“Why are you asking us that?” I had to ask, even though it meant he immediately scowled in annoyance.

“Isn't it obvious? The less the killer knows we have on them, the more likely they are to trip up.” Given how he sighed, I must’ve looked confused. “What would happen if, for example, the killer brought up the wrench before it was presented?” _Oooh. Huh, that’s actually kind of clever._

“Th-That does make sense,” Fuyumi agreed, looking pensive. _At least her wrist doesn’t seem to hurt._ “It is a common technique used in interrogations and investigations...But, wait, everyone should have access to the pictures we took once the trial starts. They’ll know about the wrench.”

“A fair point,” Nobu replied, “But they won’t know the significance of the wrench. If they mention a detail they shouldn’t know, such as where the wrench was hidden, or how poorly it was hidden, it’s as good as a confession as far as I’m concerned.” _I don’t think you can consider one screw up a confession...it’d be a good starting point though._

“Now then.” He suddenly turned to me, frowning again. “What did you tell the two girls in the Court? Don’t bother lying, I can easily find out what they know and I’m not in the mood to waste time. Knowing you, I’m just praying you didn’t tell them everything.” _Okay, rude. C’mon, I’m not that bad-Oh, wait._

“Uh...I did tell Miyabi and Nina about the wrench. Aaand they know that we think the cuts were made after death,” I admitted. Nobu just stared at me, before slowing raising a hand to his face and pinching the bridge of his nose, letting out a deep sigh. _Okay, c’mon, it’s not that bad._ “Though, uh, we did figure out that the stuff on the wall is paint, not blood.”

“Yes, I know, Chinatsu told me-Wait,” he paused, glancing at me again. “You confirmed it?”

“Yeah, there’s apparently two cans of each color paint in the Court,” I explained. “Looks like we’re missing one can of red paint though.”

“Really? Hm, then all we need to do is figure out is where the missing can is. Well, good work on that, at least.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” I muttered. “Now that you’re done interrogating us, did you find anything else in the laundry room?”

“Of course I did,” Nobu replied with a grin, looking through his notepad.

“...Are you going to tell us what it is?”

“Of course not. After all, it serves me much better to keep an ace or two up my sleeves.” _Oh come on._

“Ugh, don’t be a prick. Just tell us what-”

[GREETING MORTALS!] Akiba’s voice suddenly echoed out from the other end of the meeting area. The tall technician was grinning widely as he walked up to the rest of the group, followed by Beatrice, who was also smiling cheerfully, Kimiko, who was playing with her lighter again, and Tadashi, who seemed to be carrying some white cloth covered in faded red spots that was wrapped around something cylindrical. Oh, and Kinute was there too, trailing behind the rest of them with an irritated frown.

[HOW DID YOUR INVESTIGATIONS GO?] Akiba asked, looking incredibly pleased with himself. [I SINCERELY HOPE THEY WENT WELL AND YOU GUYS ALL PULLED YOUR WEIGHT, EVEN THOUGH YOU PROBABLY DIDN’T FIND ANYTHING TOO IMPORTANT. AFTER ALL, I'M THE ONE WHO FOUND THE MURDER WEAPON!] _Wait, what?_

Akiba clapped his hands together twice, before taking a step to the side and gesturing at Tadashi, who rolled his eyes, and Beatrice, who grinned back at him. Tadashi set the thing he was carrying down on one of the roulette tables and Beatrice promptly grabbed the sheet it was wrapped in, yanking it off in one swift motion and revealing...a paint can?

“Uh, how’s that the murder weapon?” Chinatsu asked, raising an eyebrow at the can.

[NO, NO, NOT THAT.] Akiba waved his hand dismissively, heading over to the can and popping off its top. [KEEP A CLOSE WATCH NOW.] He reached into the can, pulled out a bloodstained kitchen knife, and tossed it to his gloved hand, twirling it casually in his hand before brandishing it towards us. [TA-DAH!]

We all just kind of stared at him for a bit before Hideyoshi started clapping enthusiastically, Kimiko also clapping politely behind Tadashi. “What a wonderful performance! Very nice work you three!”

[HA! THANKS BOSS!] Akiba grins, taking a bow with Beatrice, while Tadashi sighed in exasperation.

“What’s with the sheet?” Chinatsu suddenly asked, glancing at the bundled cloth in Beatrice’s arms.

“Oh, we’re not sure,” Beatrice replied, holding it up and making it easy to see the faded red spots scattered across the white sheet were bloodstains. “It was wrapped around the paint can, and the knife was inside the can.”

“And all of them were together in one of the lower kitchen cabinets,” Kinute added, staring at...me?

“Yeah, yeah, that is fantastic to know,” Vito spoke up, frowning nervously at the bloody knife in Akiba’s hand. “Why do you have the knife though? Didn’t the bear say just to take a picture of it?”

[BECAUSE I WANTED TO SHOW OFF. DUH.] Akiba replied, smirking at Vito. [WHY SO NERVOUS? I ASSURE YOU, I’M NOT ABOUT TO GO, SAY, TRIPPING AND CHUCKING THIS IN YOUR FACE. THOUGH IT IS TEMPTING.]

“Fuck off! Just put that thing down already!” Vito barked, his fists clenched even as he took a step back from Akiba. “I don’t trust you anywhere near me with a fucking knife.”

[AW, THAT HURTS, VITTORIO. AND HERE I THOUGHT WE WERE GETTING ALONG SO WELL.] Akiba’s smirk widens as he starts walking towards Vito, waving the knife casually. [YOU’RE BREAKING MY HEART OVER HERE, AMIGO.]

“I’m not fucking Spanish,” Vito spat out, suddenly taking a step forward, clearly getting angrier as Akiba kept grinning at him. “Now put down that knife before I SHOVE IT IN YOUR THROAT!”

“Vito, Vito, calm down,” Hide spoke up, stepping between Akiba and Vito. “This isn’t helping-”

“Yeesh, I can’t leave you morons alone for a second, can I?” A familiar grating voice suddenly sounded, drawing everybody’s attention to Kinkuma. The psychotic bear was sitting on top of his own giant golden head, his stubby legs dangling down over the statue’s forehead. “First Kitty and the suit squad try stealing from my store-” _Oh you asshole._ “-and now we’re going to have another murder before the first trial is even over? If I knew you guys were this bad, I would’ve gone with my tracking collar idea.”

“Tracking collar?” Tadashi asked, looking alarmed. For good reason. He was going to put tracking collars on us?!

“Now then, before we begin,” Kinkuma continued, completely ignoring Tadashi completely justified concern and pointing at Akiba. “Drop the knife, criminal scum! No weapons shall be allowed to defile the sanctity of the court! Plus, I don’t want you morons stabbing each other because you can’t control your emotions or some shit.”

Akiba pouted at being signaled out, but did as Kinkuma asked. Namely by holding the knife up up, point down, and dropping it right on the roulette table, the blade sinking into the “36” spot. 

Kinkuma glared down at Akiba, who grinned back at him. The bear crossed his stubby arms over his chest, grumbling to himself. “I’m not replacing that! Should’ve made you the Ultimate Vandal...Ugh, whatever. Let’s just get to the trial already.”

“Ah, about that,” Hideyoshi tried to speak up. “Where exactly-”

Before he could finish his question, the floor around the golden Kinkuma head starting shaking, the actual Kinkuma slipping off the head and falling behind it as it slowly raised up to reveal a huge elevator decorated with black spades. Once it raised to its full height, the elevator’s doors opened up, revealing its well-lit interior.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Kinkuma asked, popping up by one of the roulette tables. “Don’t you want to get the trial already? I bet you vicious bastards are just raring to go and condemn one of your own for this crime! So chop chop, it’s time to figure everything out!”

“Hmph. Why do we need to head to a trial?” Kinute suddenly asked, glaring at Kinkuma. “I can tell you all who the killer is right now.” _Huh? She figured it out already?_

“Ooooooh? Well, aren’t you a smartypants!” Kinkuma replied, his golden eye fixed on Kinute harsh scowl. “Figured it out already, did ya? So who done it, Twitchy? C’mon, enlighten us pooooor unfortunate souls!”

“It’s Atsuko.” 

…

_Hold on, what?_

I blinked. I just...kind of stared at Kinute, who met my gaze evenly with her usual sneer. The rest of the room was completely silent, everybody just kind of staring at us. “What?” I finally breathed out, my voice nearly silent. 

“Oh come on, don’t give me that innocent bullshit,” she snarled. “You know it, I know it, and now everybody here is going to know it. You killed Kimihito and hung his sliced up corpse from the ceiling.”

“Th-” “Bullshit,” Beatrice interrupted me, her earlier cheer completely gone as she glared at Kinute. “Why the hell do you think Atsuko-”

“Because I have fucking proof, dumbass,” Kinute replied, now smirking maliciously at Beatrice. “Sucks for you, but your girlfriend’s a fucking murderer. Looks like you don’t get to add her to your culty harem or whatever the fuck you wanted to do.”

“What? I’m not-Whatever, just, what in the world are you talking about?”

“Hmph. Let me spell it out for you-”

“Nope, nope, time’s up!” Kinkuma cut in, crossing his arms in a little X. “Any and all accusations, assertions, and allegations must be made in the courtroom during the trial! So everybody in the elevator already or I’m declaring a mistrial! And you really don’t want me to do that.”

With that ominous statement, Kinkuma stepped to the side, opening the way for us to get into the elevator. I hung back as people walked past me, looking at me with...concern? Suspicion? Scorn? Kinute certainly seemed pissed, glaring back at me as she strode quickly into the elevator. 

“Are you okay?” Beatrice asked, putting a hand on my shoulder and looking at me with clear concern. 

“I...don’t know? I’m...confused, I guess,” I replied. “I...I didn’t expect...I’m not even sure how...Or, why? I don’t know why she’d say that…”

“Pay attention during the trial then,” Fuyumi suddenly said as she slowly walked past us. Her hands were balled into fists and her eyes looked completely cold, a sort of frigid rage in her gaze. “We’ll find out there. And then…” Her glare seemed to get more intense. “I’m going to crucify that vicious bitch.”

“Wow. She’s got a mean side to her,” Beatrice noted, watching Fuyumi as she walked into the elevator. “Pretty justified though...Um, are you okay to head in?”

“I kinda have to, don’t I?” I replied, still completely confused. I wasn’t even really all that upset. It was just...so out of nowhere for her to accuse me. _How the hell did she even come to that conclusion? Did I do something to her?_

“Don’t worry, Atsuko. We’re going to figure this out,” Beatrice reassured me, smiling softly. “We both know you’re not guilty, so we just have to prove it, right?”

“Right. Right,” I muttered, straightening up and steeling myself. _There’s no time to be confused. I have to be decisive now._ “Yeah, let’s go prove Kinute wrong and find out just who did kill Kimihito.” I grinned up at her. “Thanks for everything, by the way.”

“Heh. Don’t mention it.” She returned my smile, and took my hand. And then we walked into the elevator together, taking our place towards the front of the group, surrounded by our fellow contestants. Our allies, and our enemies.

Once we were all inside, the doors closed, and the elevator began to descend. Deep down into the depths of the casino, where the trial was set to begin. Today, we would have to figure out just who killed Kimihito and mutilated his body. And if we didn’t...Every last one of us was going to die. Everyone, except for the murderer who took the life of the Ultimate Historian, Kimihito Yamazaki.

_It’s life or death...Time to uncover the truth, and put an end to this whole debacle._

\----:----

The whole trip down into the depths of this hellhole was done in complete silence, aside from the rumbling of the elevator. Everybody seemed too busy thinking to themselves to try to talk to anyone. I could feel a few of them staring at me, but I tried to ignore them. At least Beatrice’s presence was comforting as we descended lower and lower. 

_How far down are we going?_ I wondered as the heavy, oppressive silence seemed to drag on and on. Finally though, the elevator came to a stop, and the doors opened, revealing an entirely new room to all of us.

The new area was a large, circular room with a high ceiling, its walls decorated with black spades on a golden background. In the center of the room were sixteen podium, all situated in a circle, an open space in the center. Multiple large tv screens hung above us, one particularly large one set up directly above a large raised desk, Kinkuma sitting directly behind it in an ornate golden chair with black cushions. Set on the left side of the raised desk was another statue of Kinkuma. This one was gold on his silver side and black on his gold side, its eyes covered by a blindfold. The statue held a scale in one hand, and a lowered sword in the other. _Portraying himself as justice...Well that’s not arrogant in the slightest. How did he even get down here so fast?_

“Greetings, everyone,” Kinkuma spoke up. His usual grating voice sounded calmer than usual, a sort of formal tone to his words. “Please, take your positions. Each podium is marked with your names, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to find yours. Even for those of you with a lower intelligence.” _Right, still an asshole._

Still, we did have to do what he said. Each of us headed up to the podiums and quickly found our own, taking up our positions around the circle. I ended up in between Hide and Nina, thankfully in a position where I didn't have to look directly at Kinkuma. Beatrice’s spot was across from mine, and she gave me a little wave when she got up there. That honestly lifted my spirits a bit.

Of course, they were soured a bit when I saw Nobu’s place was directly to the right of her. I don’t know why, but seeing him next to her just kind of annoyed me. Anyway, Akiba took his place to the left of her, leaving every seat occupied by a person except for the one directly in front of the elevator, between Tadashi and Kinute on the left side of the courtroom. In that spot, there was some weird stand or sign set up, a black curtain covering its surface. 

“Uh, what’s with that thingy?” Kimiko wound up asking, pointing at the stand. The pyro was right beside Nobu and next to Vito, her lighter planted right on top of her podium, its flame glowing dimly in the courtroom lights.

“It’s a stand-in,” Kinkuma explained. _...Was that supposed to be a pun?_

The bear gestured, and the curtain fell away, revealing an upside-down photograph of Kimihito with a red X crossed over his face. _Oh._ “A representation of your fallen comrade. Consider it a reminder of who you’re fighting for. Aside from yourselves, I suppose. Now, are there any more questions before we begin?”

“Yes, actually,” Tadashi spoke up from his place between the Kimihito stand and Miyabi’s spot. “How exactly does this trial work? The rules weren’t very clear.”

Kinkuma chuckled, a low, almost dark sound instead of his usual grating giddiness. “You’re getting ahead of yourself, Ageru. I was about to explain those very rules. I suppose I should thank you for giving me a good opening to do so.” The bear chuckled again, leaning back in his seat. _I think I prefered it when he was being an annoying asshole. This is just creepy…_

“The rules for this trial are very simple,” Kinkuma started to explain, his tone still weirdly formal. “The goal for the majority of the contestants here is to discover the blackened and avoid death. Similarly, the goal of the blackened is to avoid discovery entirely and escape. Using the evidence found throughout your investigation you shall all discuss who the possible blackened may be. Once this trial comes to an end, a vote shall be cast on who you consider the blackened. Look to your podium for how to do so.” 

At his words, I looked down and noticed a panel on my podium, a bright red button with the word “vote” painted on its surface. A left and a right arrow button were set up directly on each side side of the button. “You all may choose to initiate the vote whenever you unanimously decide to do so, though I should warn you against initiating the vote if there remains evidence unpresented. Ultimately, the goal here is to find the blackened at all costs and vote correctly for their guilt. If the blackened receives the majority vote, they alone shall face justice for their crimes. In the event that a non-blackened contestant receives the majority vote, they and all contestants aside from the blackened shall be punished for failing to enact justice, and the blackened shall be allowed to go free.

“You do not need a unanimous vote to convict the blackened, but abstaining from voting will be met with disciplinary measures,” Kinkuma finished explaining, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared down at us from on high. All around the room, the tv screens around the room suddenly turned on, each showing a wide angle shot of the entire courtroom. “As you can see, these television screens can display everything within the courtroom. Their true purpose, however, is to allow you all to display the evidence you have found throughout your investigation.”

Two of the screens abruptly switched to a sort of digital photo album, displaying all of the photos we’d taken as evidence throughout the investigation. Every single photo. Including a number of them that were clearly, blatantly useless.

“Why are there so many pictures of the kitchen?” Tadashi asked, staring up at the screen across from him in clear confusion.

[OH, THOSE? I FIGURED IT’D BE BEST TO MAKE SURE I CAPTURED EVERY POSSIBLE BIT OF EVIDENCE,] Akiba explained, grinning proudly. [I’M A VERY THOROUGH PERSON, AFTER ALL.]

“Sure you are,” Chinatsu said, looking distinctly unimpressed. The tall yakuza was situated between Hideyoshi and Fuyumi, which honestly seemed like a dick move on Kinkuma’s part, considering how uncomfortable Chinatsu and Fuyumi looked with each other’s presence. “Still, why did you take so many? You cluttered up the screen.”

[HMPH. I HAVE NO NEED TO EXPLAIN MY METHODS TO YOU PLEBEIANS. IF ANYTHING, YOU GUYS DIDN’T TAKE ENOUGH PICTURES.]

“Hm, really? I will have to remember that for next time,” Tetsu said, nodding to himself. _Please don’t. There’s like forty pictures of silverware up there…_ Honestly, a couple of them looked pretty artistic.

“Hashida’s photo fetish aside,” Kinkuma began, ignoring how Akiba immediately stiffened and glared up at him. “You can all select which evidence you want to present by pressing the photo in question on your e-handbooks. To prevent annoyance and confusion, that ability will be restricted to whoever is speaking at the moment. Best of luck finding the evidence you want to present amongst all the useless photographs.”

[FUCK OFF!] Akiba immediately snapped. [BLEH. FINE, I’LL TAKE LESS PHOTOS NEXT TIME.]

“Do whatever you wish,” Kinkuma replied, leaning back in his seat. “Now that the rules have been explained entirely, the trial may begin. Would anyone like to make an opening argument?”

Unsurprisingly, Kinute was the first one to speak up, the tv screen behind Kinkuma zooming in on her as she glared at me. “Yeah, I have an argument. Atsuko’s the killer, case fucking closed.”

“Are you kidding me?” I asked, still honestly more confused than scared or angry. It just really didn’t make sense why she was accusing me, and nobody else in the room really seemed like they believed her. “Why do you think I did it?”

“Because, dipshit, I actually decided to pay attention last night, unlike the rest of you. Since you ran off early on and the rest of these jackasses kept bitching for hours later, I figured tensions were high enough that some asshole would off somebody sooner rather than later,” she explained, still trying to stare me down. It might’ve scared me if she was actually intimidating. “So I kept my door open and waited to see who would do what.”

[WELL THAT WAS DUMB.] Akiba added, still looking annoyed. [WHAT IF SOMEBODY NOTICED AND DECIDED TO INVADE YOUR ROOM?]

“Then they would’ve gotten a pair of scissors in their eye, jackass. You gonna let me finish?”

[FINE FINE, GO AHEAD SMOL BALL OF RAGE.] _She’s not that small...Hell, she’s taller than me._

Kinute snarled at Akiba, before turning her gaze back on me again. “My point is, after everybody else went to bed, I heard a door close by to my room open up. I looked in the hall and saw Teacher’s Bitch walk past. She went right into the lounge, and then probably went on to find and murder whatever his name is.”

“So everyone hadn’t gone to sleep already,” Nobu pointed out. “Kimihito was still awake.” Kinute snorted dismissively, keeping her glare fixed on me.

“Fuck off. I don’t know what the side character was doing. Might’ve been jacking off in the laundry or something. Point is, Teacher’s Bitch killed him. We done yet?” she finished, smirking at me.

_That’s it? That’s all she has?_ I thought. And I apparently wasn’t alone in that thought, since Fuyumi spoke up next, looking incredibly irritated.

“Is that really all the evidence you have?” she asked tersely, standing tall and radiating a sort of cold fury so intense that Chinatsu and Tetsu actually shifted away from her, both of them looking a bit uneasy.

Kinute shrugged in response, completely unaffected by Fuyumi’s clear anger as she raised eyebrow at the lawyer. “What, you want more?”

“Yes, I do. All you have is baseless conjecture,” Fuyumi replied. “In the court of law, evidence is everything. And an eyewitness account is worthless in this situation.”

“Worthless?” Kinute bristled, scowling. “Fuck you! You know as well as I do that she headed out at night. About...fuck, like, eleven twenty? Something like that.”

“Why would Raito know about Atsuko’s movements?” Chinatsu asked, staring evenly at Kinute and clearly trying to ignore Fuyumi’s building rage.

“Because the bitch followed after her like a fucking puppy!” Kinute snarled. “Maybe like...fuck, a minute or so? Lawyer Bitch looked out of her room, noticed Teacher’s Bitch, and then followed her. No idea what they did together, but they came back...ugh, fuck, some time later, I think. Two doors opened in quick succession, one close by to me, the other further down the hall. I figure that’s when they went back to bed. Or at least the lawyer did.”

“So, what? Signorinas Oko and Raito went out together around the time of the murder and came back later?” Vito asked. “So they are accomplices?”

“Why would I be Atsuko’s accomplice? If she was the culprit, only she would be able to reap the benefits of being the blackened,” Fuyumi retorted. “It clearly states that only the blackened can escape if they go undiscovered.”

“Well, um, what if she told you she would let you out instead of her? Maybe you would have gone along with it-” Vito tried to point out, only for Fuyumi to silence him with a glare.

“Don’t speak up if you have nothing intelligent to offer. Leaving aside the obvious issues of trusting someone I’ve known for five days to sacrifice herself for me, why wouldn’t I simply kill her as well?” _Wait, what?_ “The limit is two people, correct? If I really was self-centered enough to aid someone in murder purely so they could give themselves up for me, why wouldn’t I kill her as well to cover my tracks? I benefit far more, since I would get to have my own wish and would remove a potential witness. Similarly, Atsuko could’ve just killed me in this scenario for the exact same reasons. There’s simply no incentive for either of us to aid the other in a murder.”

“Okay, okay, clearly this is an unproductive line of thought,” Hideyoshi spoke up, grinning at Fuyumi. “So, why not tell us what you and Atsuko were doing that night? That should clear this up, right?”

“Hm. Atsuko?” 

_Eh?_ Fuyumi was looking me, concern in her eyes. _Oh, right. That was a pretty rough time last night…Right, I can deal with it._ I took a breath to steady myself, and nodded to her, giving her the go ahead. She nodded back, and continued.

“Last night, Atsuko exited her room sometime after eleven o’clock. I was having trouble sleeping, and I decided to get some water. None of the faucets were working in my room, I assume because the water is turned off at night, so I decided to get a bottle of water from the fridge. I saw Atsuko entering the lounge and I followed her through the lounge and into the kitchen, where she was having a breakdown.

“She clearly needed help, so I comforted her. We talked, I made her a sandwich, and then we went back to our rooms. Neither of us were out of each other’s sight, and I saw Atsuko enter her room. Is that enough for you, Sado?”

“Fuck no. I know that bitch is the killer-” She pointed directly at me, scowling. “-And I’m going to prove it.”

“With what? You don’t have anything,” Beatrice pointed out. “Why are you so set on Atsuko being the killer anyway?”

“It is weird,” Kimiko spoke up. “Atsuko’s nice. I don’t think she’d kill anybody.” _Aw. Thanks you two._

“Oh yeah, such ringing endorsements from the Witch Bitch and the half-baked pyro,” Kinute growled. “I’m set on her because I _know_ it was her. I heard a door nearby mine open up again!” _Huh?_

“You did?” Fuyumi questioned. “So you saw Atsuko in the hall again?”

“Well...no, I didn’t see anyone in the hall that time. But still! I know what I heard! And hell, you two being in the kitchen just proves it! Remember where we found the fucking knife? In the kitchen! Hell, Witch Bitch and the Technophile can back me up here.”

“Yeah, but I really don’t feel like it,” Beatrice muttered.

[GUESS IT’S UP TO ME THEN. CAN CONFIRM, KNIFE WAS IN THE KITCHEN. WHERE MOST KNIVES ARE.] Akiba brought up a picture of the knife in question, set down on one of the kitchen’s counters next to the empty red paint can. [EXCEPT THIS ONE WAS IN A PAINT CAN IN A CABINET, NOT ON THE UNNECESSARILY COMPLEX MAGNETIC THINGY KINKUMA DECIDED TO SET UP.]

“Magnets are the way of the future,” Kinkuma stated, completely serious. 

“They are fairly useful,” Hideyoshi suddenly agreed. “The magnetic bars display the knives quite neatly, ensure they don’t get lost easily, and make it quite simple to find out if someone removed one of the knives.” _Hide, please stop agreeing with the psycho bear._

“Magnets aside,” Tadashi began, looking askance at Hide. “The knife being hidden in the kitchen doesn’t really mean anything, does it? The culprit just chose to hide it there. We don’t know why they chose so, nor do we know why the paint can and sheet were there either.”

“Does it fucking matter?” Kinute asked, raising an eyebrow at Tadashi.

“Yes, it does matter. It matter quite a bit,” Fuyumi retorted. “There are multiple rooms full of evidence that we haven’t even looked yet because you’re set on proving that Atsuko committed a crime that we all know for a fact that she didn’t.”

“Oh please, like it’s a fucking fact-”

Fuyumi slammed her hands on her podium, glaring furiously at Kinute. “Would you shut up?! You have added _nothing_ of worth to this discussion whatsoever! In fact, you’re actively detracting from our investigation, demanding we follow a ludicrous tangent that you have no basis to even argue for!”

Suddenly, she straightened up, her voice going completely cold. “Unless, of course, you are the culprit.” _Wait, what? Kinute’s the killer?_

“What? What the fuck is that suppose to mean?” Kinute growled.

“I. Think. You. Are. Guilty,” Fuyumi enunciated, scowling at Kinute. “You murdered Kimihito Yamazaki, displayed his body, and then chose to blame Atsuko for the killing to cover your tracks.” _Huh...I guess that makes sense? Something feels off though…_

Kinute snorted, rolling her eyes. “And why the fuck would I do that?”

“Multiple reasons. You couldn’t allow your criminal talent to be revealed. You couldn’t handle the stress of being in a confined space with people you clearly despise being around.” Fuyumi suddenly smiled, and it was _terrifying._ “And you couldn’t keep control of your urges any longer, could you? Because you, Ms. Kinute Sado, are the Ultimate Torturer.”

_...Hold on, what?_

I honestly don’t know who here was more confused. Everybody looked completely perplexed, staring between Fuyumi and Kinute in an attempt to make sense of her words. The only exceptions, of course, were Fuyumi, who was smirking triumphantly at Kinute, and the masseuse in question, who had probably the most stunned expression I’d ever seen.

“Th-The fuck?” Kinute finally squeaked out, her mouth agape as she stared, wide-eyed, at Fuyumi. 

“That’s...a bit out of nowhere,” Tadashi interjected, raising an eyebrow at Fuyumi. “Why in the world would you assume she’s the Ultimate Torturer?”

“Y-Yeah! What Greeny said!” Kinute leaned forward, glaring at Fuyumi again.

“Greeny?” Tadashi muttered in confusion.

“How-No, _why_ the fuck do you think I’m the fucking torturer!?” Kinute shouted, completely ignoring Tadashi in favor of trying to bore holes in Fuyumi’s face with her glare.

“You have a number of mannerisms that gave you away,” Fuyumi stated, still smiling in that unnerving way. “As I’m fairly sure everyone has seen, you’re almost constantly twitching and fidgeting. The only times you’re not are when you’re arguing with one person or taunting another.”

“Are you serious?! That’s all you have?!” _Huh. She hasn’t actually outright denied it…_

[UH, I’M ACTUALLY WITH KIKI ON THIS ONE,] Akiba spoke up, ignoring how Kinute immediately glared at him when she heard her new nickname. [SHE COULD JUST BE REALLY ANXIOUS. ANXIETY CAN MESS SOME STUFF UP AND MAKE YOUR BODY MOVE WEIRD, Y’KNOW?]

“While I take issue with your phrasing, I do agree that involuntary body motions alone aren’t enough to state someone is a violent sadist,” Fuyumi replied, keeping her gaze on an increasingly agitated Kinute. “However, we need to take context into account. Sado isn’t a shy or nervous person, as far as we’ve seen. She’s always acted with aggression, bordering on cruelty, when interacting with others. While that just could be an extreme reaction to nervousness, she doesn’t fidget at all when she’s picking at a person’s weaknesses.”

“Seriously?! So I like pissing people off and making ‘em squirm, so what? It doesn’t mean I’m a sadist!” Kinute...kinda defended herself. _Isn’t that the definition of a sadist?_

"Not only that," Fuyumi continued, ignoring Kinute's protest. "But your Ultimate talent makes you rather suited to that particular criminal talent. A masseuse would have to have a good understanding of human anatomy, as well as how to best relax muscles and aid their clients. Or hurt them, as the case may be."

"Oh _bullshit!_ What about the fucking surgeon then?! He's got to have the same kind of knowledge, doesn't he?!"

"Please leave me out of this," Kiru muttered, flinching when Kinute immediately growled at him.

"Then who is the Ultimate Malpractice?" Fuyumi asked, frowning in irritation. "I doubt anyone else here has medical knowledge."

"Please stop trying to guess what my talent is-" "How the fuck should I know!?" Kinute shouted over Kiru, glaring fiercely at Fuyumi. "Your guess is still bullshit! You have nothing to fucking prove that I'm the torturer!"

“Well, if you’re not willing to accept my deductions, what about an eyewitness account? You seem to prefer those.”

“Oh you’ve got to be fucking kidding-”

“No, no I’m not,” Fuyumi interrupted, scowling at Kinute. “I was watching you during the presentation earlier. The one where Kinkuma showed us all Kimihito’s body.” Kinute suddenly stiffened, her face paling. “Your reaction was quite interesting.” _Her reaction?_

“Now, I’m not entirely familiar with such things,” Fuyumi continued. “But I’d say, judging by your blushing face and the way you were biting your lower lip, you were aroused. Correct?”

“NOT CORRECT!” Kinute yelled, suddenly blushing brightly. “NOT CORRECT AT ALL!”

“Ah. Well, that makes some things make sense…” Beatrice muttered, frowning at Kinute. “So the first day we got here, after the, um, example was skewered-”

“NO NO NO! SHUT UP!” Kinute shouted at Beatrice, her nails digging into the sides of her podium. “TH-THAT-I, I just...JUST SHUT THE HELL UP ALL OF YOU!”

“Interesting reaction,” Fuyumi noted. “So, are you willing to admit it?”

“FUCK OFF!” Kinute barked, her podium actually starting to crack in her grip. “I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL FUCKING SKIN YOU!”

“Hm. It seems not. Well, I did say evidence is everything.” Fuyumi smiled, a cold, satisfied grin. “Luckily, I do have photographic evidence.”

“W-What?!” I’m not sure if Kinute was more angry or more embarrassed at this point. Her face was completely red, and only got brighter when Fuyumi brought up a photo of her, staring up at the main area’s screen with...an interesting expression.

[WELL DAMN. KIKI HAS A NECRO KINK?]

“I DO NOT!” Kinute outright shrieked. “I-I-I...I-It-”

“I also have an image of you taking a picture of the corpse on the screen,” Fuyumi spoke up, Kinute going completely rigid at her words. “Do you think if we scrolled down enough, we would find the image you took?”

“D-Don’t you dare-”

“Kinute,” Miyabi suddenly spoke up, her arms crossed over her chest. “I assume you don’t want Fuyumi to bring up every sordid detail about yourself, right?”

“W-What? Why the hell are you-”

“So tell us. If you’re not the Ultimate Torturer, tell us what your true criminal talent is,” Miyabi requested. “If you think you qualify for any other title, tell us, and we’ll drop the subject entirely.”

Kinute opened her mouth, and tried to say something. Nothing came out. 

“Should we take that as your answer?” Fuyumi asked with a smug grin. “Kinute Sado, you were the one who murdered Kimihito Yamazaki. Whether due to a desire to keep your criminal talent from being revealed or a simple loss of control over your urges, you attacked Kimihito and tortured him to death, before displaying his corpse in the laundry room.” _Wait...that doesn’t sound right…_

“Th-That...N-No, I d-didn’t-” Kinute tried to protest, visibly shaking.

Fuyumi slammed her hands on the podium again, then pointed dramatically at Kinute. “Kinute Sado, the Ultimate Torturer...You’re finished!”

“N-N-No...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Kinute screamed out towards the ceiling, before collapsing onto her podium, as though every bit of fight in her had been broken.

\---:---

**_And so, the curtain on our first trial drew to a clos-_** “THAT’S NOT RIGHT!”

I swear the sound of a record scratching echoed out in the completely silent courtroom as every single person there just kind of stared at me, Fuyumi slowly lowering her hand as she gave me a look of genuine confusion at my sudden shouting.

I could feel myself blushing as everyone stared at me, coughing into my hand as I tried to regain my composure. “R-Right. Um, I mean, Kinute might be a creepy sadist, but I don’t think she’s the killer.”

“Er, why not?” Vito asked, looking confused. “She tortured him to death, right? Because she’s the torturer?”

“No, that’s not right at all. Well, I mean, she could easily be the torturer considering how much of a sadistic jerk she is and...her apparent weird tastes, but she definitely didn’t torture Kimihito to death. He wasn’t tortured at all.”

“What?” Fuyumi asked, before she hit the same realization as me. “Oh. Oh, wait…”

“Yeah, you remember, right?” I asked. “Kiru was saying that the knife wounds were made after he died. If Kinute had been the killer like you’re saying, wouldn’t she want to slice him up before he dies?”

“Oh. True.” Fuyumi blinked, her earlier fury seeming to leave her completely as she tried to process the sudden turn everything took. “But...I mean...she could’ve killed him anyway, right?”

“She could have, yes,” I admitted. “But her being the torturer doesn’t mean she did it. It would actually be an argument against her committing the murder, wouldn’t it? I mean, if she is the type to torture people, she probably would’ve tied him down while he was awake or something. She wouldn’t get any satisfaction from killing him and then cutting up his corpse, right?”

“I...Suppose not,” Fuyumi replied, frowning. “But...wait, you’re saying she just...went after you because she legitimately thought you were the killer?”

“Probably? She is kind of a jerk, but she really could’ve thought that I did kill Kimihito, and just been stubborn enough to stick to her story no matter what.”

“Funny how that works,” Chinatsu noted. “She became convinced Atsuko was the killer, so she pursued her doggedly, only for you, Raito, to accuse her in turn.”

“Leading us all on a tangent that has turned out to be completely worthless,” Nobu chimed in, frowning at Fuyumi, who shrunk back slightly with an embarrassed blush.

“S-Sorry…” she apologized, fiddling with her fingers. “I-I...may have been a little overzealous there…”

“No need to apologize,” Vito spoke up, grinning at her. “I love spirited women~”

“Vito, no,” I said, frowning at him. He rolled his eyes in response, but backed off. “So, yeah. I’d say it probably wasn’t Kinute that killed him. So, I mean...at least we ruled out one person?”

[HEH. HEAR THAT KIKI? YOU’RE OFF THE SUSPECT LIST.] Akiba chuckled, before glancing at Kinute. Who was still sprawled out on her podium. [UH. IS SHE OKAY?]

We all stared over at Kinute, before looking up at the closest person to her. Namely, Vito.

“Nope,” he immediately said, crossing his arms over his chest. “I refuse to touch an unconscious woman.”

“Oh my god,” Beatrice muttered, glancing up at Kinkuma. “Is it okay if I wake her up?”

“I’ll allow it,” the bear replied, his grin seeming to widen. “Do it quickly though. This trial has been entertaining so far, and I would rather not suspend it for long.”

\----:----

It didn’t take too long for Beatrice to wake up Kinute, though the masseuse/torturer didn’t seem to appreciate it very much, nor did she really care when we informed her that we figured out she, probably, wasn’t the killer. She immediately pushed Beatrice away once she was up, scowling at her, before glaring at the rest of us, buttoning up her large jacket, and hunching down slightly. Keeping her arms crossed over her chest, she seemed somehow smaller than before, though no less irritated.

“Well then, now that we have all of that out of the way,” Nobu began as the trial resumed, “Can we get to actually running this trial properly instead of turning it into a courtroom drama?”

“But courtroom drama is fantastic!” Hideyoshi protested, grinning excitedly. “And that was a spectacular piece! Really, marvelous work, all of you! It was quite-”

“ _Enough._ We’re moving on,” Nobu interrupted, scowling at Hide. “So, instead of accusing any more people for baseless reasons, why don’t we focus on the important parts of the trial? You know, presenting evidence, discussing the areas we investigated, actually _solving the damn case._ ”

“Probably best to do so, yes,” Tadashi agreed, clearly grinning at him.

Nobu sighed in frustration, before turning to Kiru. “Can you just present your findings now? I would rather not be here all day.”

“Uh...sure? Sure, I can do that...” Kiru replied, pressing down on his screen and bringing up a picture of Kimihito’s sliced up chest. _Uuuugh, that’s disgusting…_ “So, um...Alright, alright. W-While I was examining the victim’s body, I discovered indications that, um, indicated that the cuts made on his, it, uh…the body were performed post-mortem. Ah, after death, I mean.”

“You sure we should have him explaining?” Chinatsu asked. “He looks like he’s about to faint.”

“I-I’m fine, I’m fine. Just, um...Okay, so, bruising. No, wait, not-”

“Kiru discovered that Kimihito was murdered before the cuts were ever made,” Nobu cut in, frowning. “The culprit decided to carve up Kimihito’s body sometime after his death. From what we’ve discovered, they fractured his skull with a blunt instrument, then made very slow, deliberate cuts. Based on the entry wounds and tearing of the skin, the culprit would stab the body, then simply drag the knife through the victim’s flesh. If you look, you can see where the culprit had to abort some cuts because they met too much resistance.”

He gestured up at the screen, giving us all a moment to take a look before continuing. “Afterwards, they suspended the body from the ceiling fan, and painted the words ‘Notice me’ across the far wall. So, the questions here are: how did the killer ambush Kimihito? What did they use to inflict his wounds? Why did they carve up his body after death? And, finally, what is the significance of the message written behind him?”

“Those are the only questions?” Chinatsu spoke up, frowning at Nobu. “Shouldn’t we also be asking why he was in the laundry room in the first place? As well as why the killer chose to target him in particular.”

“No, those aren’t necessary to find out,” Nobu replied, smiling. “I have the answers to those questions already. So let’s focus on the others.”

“What? Why would we accept that?” Miyabi asked, furrowing her brow in annoyance. “For all we know, you’re-”

“I’m not the killer. And I don’t particularly care if you want to accuse me. Now then, let’s begin with actual testimonies,” Nobu began, completely ignoring Miyabi, who scowled at him. “First, let’s begin with the two who likely discovered nothing. Tadashi, Kimiko, what did you find?”

Tadashi shrugged. “It’s like you said. There was nothing in the lounge at all.”

“Yup, we found no stuff,” Kimiko agreed. “Sparkly clean like usual.”

“Good to know. So the lounge has no involvement in this case, aside perhaps as a method of moving through the dorm hall into the kitchen or casino floor.” Nobu nodded, crossing something off on his notepad. “Next, the casino floor itself. Vito, Hideyoshi, did you two find anything?”

“It pains me to admit, but no!” Hide replied, laying a hand on his forehead dramatically. “It appears our roles in this case are as mere extras, not as the starring investigators!”

“Uh, yeah. Like Hide said…?” Vito kind of agreed, staring at his friend in confusion.

“Interesting. Moving along then, to the Court of Coins. Nina, Miyabi, any luck?”

“A bit!” Nina grinned cheerfully. “We discovered that no one can steal from the court! Oh, and that the blood on the wall is likely not blood, but paint!”

“Oh, really?” Nobu stared at Nina, before slowly turning his gaze towards me, looking distinctly unimpressed. “How is it that you managed to obtain so much information that you shouldn’t have had access to?” _Okay, I get the point…_

“From Atsuko!” _Goddammit Nina._ “She told us about the paint on the wall, and then revealed that attempting to steal from the court will result in many alarms going off. The court’s gate also closes, locking down any attempted thieves inside.”

“Hm, really? That’s actually quite helpful...How long were you locked in there?”

“Until the trial started,” Miyabi spoke up. “It appears to open up at Kinkuma’s discretion, so the culprit likely couldn’t steal from the court without being locked in for...perhaps the entire night?”

“Interesting. Things certainly would’ve turned out differently if that had happened. Most likely for the better,” Nobu noted, frowning slightly. _Ah. I wonder if he means Kimihito would still be alive, or if he just means we’d find the culprit easier?_ “Anyway, let’s discuss the kitchen next, where the false murder weapon was stored.”

[YA KNOW, IT HONESTLY FEELS LIKE YOU’RE TRYING TO STEAL THE WIND FROM MY SAILS WITH THAT ‘FALSE MURDER WEAPON’ JAZZ.] Akiba complained, smirking at Nobu, who pinched the bridge of his nose in an effort to stave off an approaching headache.

“Heh. Well, there’s not much more to tell than that,” Beatrice spoke up, grinning at Akiba then glancing at Kinute. “The three of us searched the cabinets and cupboards, found the sheet and the paint can, and the knife was inside the paint can. I guess the killer hid them in there.”

“Okay, so, based on the testimony and evidence so far,” Nobu began, picking out the relevant pictures and displaying them up on the screens. “The culprit used a kitchen knife to make cuts across Kimihito’s corpse, used red paint to scrawl their message on the back wall, and likely used that sheet to ensure they were protected from the blood spatter.”

“No, that’s not right,” I spoke up. Nobu gave me an exasperated look, but gestured for me to continue. “Well, corpses don’t bleed like living people do, right Kiru?”

“U-Um, yes, that's correct. Since their heart is no longer beating, a corpse won’t bleed like a living person,” Kiru explained, pulling up a picture of Kimihito’s corpse again. _Ugh. Still hate seeing that...Hm. Where did his jacket disappear to?_ “Dead blood essentially follows the pull of gravity, which is why there isn’t as much blood covering the victim’s chest as there is on the floor. Most of the blood down there probably came from the victim’s head wound, instead of the lacerations across his torso. In fact, there’s actually very little blood around those cuts…”

“Really?” Nobu asked, staring up at the screens thoughtfully. “But wouldn’t the body still be bleeding a fair bit if the culprit began mutilating it immediately after death?”

“Most likely, yes,” Kiru conceded. “In fact...that should mean that the culprit mutilated the victim’s body long after the victim succumbed to a mixture of blunt trauma and internal and external bleeding…”

“What? That doesn’t make sense,” Tadashi spoke up, looking confused. “Why would the killer go back to mutilate the body? They could’ve just left the corpse on the floor and we would’ve been running in circles trying to figure out which one of us could’ve actually killed him.”

“That’s a good question. So far, the culprit’s actions don’t make sense in the slightest,” Fuyumi said, bringing up the pictures of the crime scene in the laundry room and the paint can with the kitchen knife inside. “The presence of the paint can and the fact that they headed to the kitchen to get a knife implies that the culprit acted with deliberate, malicious forethought, but the state of the disposal room speaks instead to a more frantic, almost panicked individual.”

“I suppose that’s as good a segway as any,” Nobu spoke up again. “Fuyumi, Atsuko, would you mind telling us what you two found in the trash disposal room?”

“Sure, one sec,” I replied as I brought up the pictures Fuyumi and I took of the trash chute and the incinerator, plus ones of the bloody footprints showing the killer’s trail through the room. “Right, so, the killer headed into the disposal room and tried to open up the trash chute first. Judging by the dents around its lock, the killer couldn’t get into it and tried to force it open. When that failed, they headed to the incinerator and threw the actual murder weapon, the wrench, inside it. Then they tried to lock it shut by shoving a broom through the handles.”

[WOW. RIGHT, MESSAGE TO WHOEVER THE KILLER IS: YOU’RE A FUCKING MORON,] Akiba said, smirking up at the picture of the incinerator and getting a little snort of amusement from Kinute.

“To be fair-Well, no, not to be fair since they killed Kimihito and everything, but-”

“What Atsuko is probably trying to say,” Fuyumi interjected. “The culprit seemed like they were panicked based on how they acted in the disposal room, so mistakes like that would make a fair bit of sense. The issue is, though, that the culprit’s actions after that point don’t make much sense. Someone who abruptly struck Kimihito with a wrench and then panicked in trying to dispose of the murder weapon doesn’t match up with a person that would so drastically mutilate and stage their victim’s corpse. It’s the difference between a crime of passion and an almost ritualistic, premeditated murder.”

“Well it’s not as though we can actually know what the killer was thinking,” Hideyoshi spoke up with a grin. “So let’s not dwell so much on the question of why, and focus more on how, shall we?”

“That does remind me,” Chinatsu suddenly spoke up, frowning in thought. “We’re sure that paint can came from the Court of Coins, right?”

“Right,” I promptly replied. _Where’s she going with this?_

“If that’s the case, how much do the paint cans cost?” she asked. “Is it something anyone can get easily or does it cost a significant amount?” 

“I might be able to answer that,” Miyabi spoke up. “I didn’t take a picture, unfortunately, so you’ll have to take my word for it, but I’m fairly certain the paint cans all cost fifty coins. Not the most expensive items in there, but I don’t think most of us could afford them just by finding the coins scattered around the casino.”

“We can probably also rule out the possibility that the culprit just happened to get lucky with the capsule machine,” Nobu added, frowning in thought. “Given how many items there are, the culprit would’ve had to spend quite a bit of time trying again and again to get what they wanted.”

“It only requires the culprit to get lucky once,” Tetsu noted, before scowling. “And if they did had a surplus of golcoins, _which they did not share with me_ , then they could’ve kept trying again and again and-”

“If I may interject,” Hide interrupted, smiling his usual smile. “Not to ignore your concerns, Tetsu, but I think we’ll wind up getting too off track if we follow that line of thought. Perhaps we should focus on other aspects of the case? For instance, could it be possible that the killer got the extension cord from the court as well?”

_Extension cord?_ I frowned, looking over at Hide. _What extension cord?_

“Hideyoshi, could you repeat that for me?” Nobu requested, his tone surprisingly cold as he stared at Hide.

“Eh? I asked if the killer got the extension cord from the court as well,” Hide replied, still smiling. “There doesn't seem to be any other place they could have gotten it, I don’t think. Is there something wrong with that?” 

“No, no there isn't. In fact, thinking that the cord wrapped around Kimihito’s leg must’ve come from the court is the obvious conclusion,” Nobu explained, smirking as he tapped the side of his temple. “The question is, how did you know it was an extension cord?”

Hide’s smile abruptly dropped, his brow furrowing apparently in confusion, though there was something...off about his tone of voice when he spoke again. “What are you talking about, Mr. Journalist? I simply perused the evidence that was found.”

“Oh? In that case, show us the evidence which reveals it was an extension cord.”

“Hmph. If I must, Mr. Tabloid Journalist,” Hide replied, letting out a dramatic sigh as he started looking through the evidence in the handbook. As he continued to flick through the images, a sort of expectant silence fell on all of us. Gradually, Hide’s smile started to return, though it was noticeably strained and seemed to be twitching every few seconds.

“It really is a good thing that every picture of the corpse focused more on the chest than the legs,” Nobu spoke up, watching Hide’s increasingly frantic swiping with a cold, calculating smile, like a predator cornering his prey. “Otherwise, you might have had a valid excuse.”

Hide abruptly stared up at Nobu, a wide smile stretching across his face and baring his teeth even as his eyes glared viciously at the journalist. 

Hideyoshi slowly put his e-handbook down on his podium, before straightening up, his smile twitching. Still though, he kept silent, just staring at Nobu with that bizarre glare. It was at that point that I did something kind of stupid.

Starring up a Hide, I couldn't help but ask, “H-how did you know about the extension cord Hide?”

Hideyoshi blinked, then turned his gaze on me, his manic grin melting into a small frown. As the silence dragged on, I became uncomfortably aware of how close he actually was to me. 

“Well then. It seems I’m cornered,” he suddenly muttered, abruptly rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck.

Suddenly, Hide reached into his jacket’s pocket, pulled out two black gloves, and put them on, stretching the material over his hands. The actor grinned at us cheerfully, then took the flower off his lapel, and held it up in his right hand, the large yellow blossom resting in his palm.

“Well, since you’ve managed to figure out my involvement in this case, Mr. Tabloid,” he began, raising his left hand up too, his middle finger and thumb pressed together. “It’s only right that I reveal the truth to you all.”

He snapped his fingers, and the entire courtroom plunged into darkness, before a pink spotlight suddenly shined down on him. The flamboyant actor abruptly crushed the flower in his palm, and flung it up in the air, before twisting around, removing and tossing his jacket up with it in one swift motion, leaving him in a pink dress shirt. 

He spread his arms wide and closed his eyes, his smile taking on a manic edge as flower petals began drifting down around him. He brought on hand back around and ran it through his hair, slicking it back, then drew it down his face, wiping off the concealer on his forehead and revealing a pink tattoo of an eye. When he opened his eyes again, they were bright pink.

Hide smirked, suddenly reaching into his shirt and pulling out a mask, before casually placing it on his face. The bizarre looking mask looked like somebody had cut two masks in half and shoved the halves together. It was bright yellow with a sharp, curling grin on its left side and a dark blue with a dour frown on its right, both toothy expressions set directly over Hide’s mouth. It also left his forehead bare, leaving that strange eye tattoo staring out at us.

The actor chuckled to himself, a dark, almost manic sound, before crossing his arms over his chest. His jacket, now a bright gold, drifted down and landed perfectly on his shoulders.

“HELLO EVERYONE!” Hide suddenly shouted, lifting his head back like he was looking down on us. “My apologies for lying to you all for so long, but, well, an actor must act, right?” He threw his arms out to the side, spreading them wide. “And all the world's a _stage_!”

“W-What...What the fuck?” _I...was not expecting that at all._

“Ah, but where are my manners?” Hideyoshi suddenly lifted a foot and slammed it on top of his podium, stepping up on it and standing up on his lower leg’s toes so he could loom over everyone. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all, for real this time!” he began, gesturing extravagantly as he spoke in a grandiose tone. “For you see, I am Hideyoshi Sato! Properly titled the Ultimate God of Joy and Sorrow, but I believe our dear game master, Kinkuma!-” he pointed directly at the demented bear before spreading his arms again. “-Intends for me to be known as the ULTIMATE! CULT! _LEADER_!”

He suddenly threw his head back and laughed again, a high-pitched, maniacal cackle emanating from behind his mask before it suddenly cut off and he stared down at us once again. “It is a bit rude of him to assign a title like that to me though. It completely ignores my own divinity in favor of something as mundane as a simple cult leader. Not to worry though. I am an actor, after all. _And I know exactly how to play my role._ ”

**FIFTEEN CRIMINALS REMAINING**

\---♠---

**Courtroom Set-Up** :

From left to right:  
Chinatsu - Hideyoshi - Atsuko - Nina - Kiru - Miyabi - Tadashi - Kimihito - Kinute - Vito - Kimiko - Nobu - Beatrice - Akiba - Testu - Fuyumi

Top view:

Kimihito

Tadashi------------Kinute

Miyabi---------------------Vito

Kiru----------------+------------Kimiko

Nina--------------+---+---+------------Nobu

Atsuko-----------------+--------------Beatrice

Hideyoshi---------------------Akiba

Chinatsu-----------------Tetsu

Fuyumi

**Kinirokuma Theater:** ♠

 _Curtains cover the stage. Hanging on them is a sign that says_ : “Kinirokuma Theater suspended for the duration of the trial. Deal with it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Well, that was fun. Hope you're all enjoying the trial, and all the little twists and turns we're putting in it so far.
> 
> Indi Smile: Fuyumi Raito ultimate kinkshamer.
> 
> Heh. Oh, also, just a heads up, but updates may be a little late for a bit since finals are going on. Still, hope you all stick around to see where this is going. Thanks for reading, and feel free to try to guess who the killer is.


	7. Revelations

**Chapter 7**

The entire courtroom was silent as we all just kind of stared up at Hideyoshi, the...apparent cult leader looming over everyone like a god above mortals. I couldn’t help but back away from him, keeping my eyes on that warped mask until I felt my back press up against Nina’s stand. 

“Well, that is certainly unusual,” Nina muttered behind me. _Nina, you bizarre foreigner, that is the biggest fucking understatement I have ever heard._

“Sato, I ask that you refrain from standing on the podiums. Or else,” Kinkuma spoke up, sounding distinctly unimpressed with Hide’s bizarre performance. His voice finally snapped me out of my shock at the bizarre sight in front of me, and with that clarity came the realization that I was still standing _way too fucking close to the psycho who most likely killed Kimihito._

“U-Um, is it possible for me to change podiums?” I asked, instantly regretting my question as Hide looked down at me, the deranged actor placing a hand on his chest and swooning.

“Oh Ms. Oko, you wound me!” he cried out, the cheerful side of his mask kinda ruining the melodramatic sadness he was trying to project. “Here I thought we were such close friends and now you wish to flee from me! Ah, the stinging pain of such betrayal!” Suddenly, Hide stepped off his podium and back onto his stand, landing perfectly on his feet and still clutching his chest as if I’d stabbed him. “Truly, it hurts me deeply. Why would you be so cruel?”

_I think it's obvious why I don't want to stand next to you, Mr. Ultimate Mutilator._

“Quit it with the theatrics,” Nobu said, seemingly unfazed by Hide’s sudden transformation. In fact, he actually looked a bit bored. “Unless you’d like us to take your sudden dramatic reveal as a confession?”

“Take it however you will!” Hideyoshi replied, clearly enjoying himself way too much. “If it helps though, I will admit that I have forbidden knowledge that no one else here knows. Well, aside from you, Mr. Tabloid. Which is quite interesting, don’t you think?”

Nobu rolled his eyes. “Right, sure. You have a transformation sequence and prance around like a Sailor Moon villain, but clearly I’m the culprit.”

“Excuse me,” Tetsu spoke up, stroking his beard pensively. “I actually am curious about that supposed knowledge, Nobu. You claim Kimihito was tied up with an extension cord, correct?”

“Yes, that is exactly what I’m claiming.” _Someone’s getting annoyed._

“Do you have any proof of that claim? I do not actually see any pictures submitted into the evidence that support your argument.”

“I’m gonna have to agree with Tetsu there,” Chinatsu chimed in. “Aside from the pictures, I didn’t see anything to suggest that the cord around Kimihito’s leg was an extension cord.”

“How focused were you on the cord itself?” Nobu asked. “I imagine you were more interested in the body, right?”

“Natsu was pretty focused on getting the body down,” Nina spoke up, looking thoughtful. “Hm...the cord was fairly orange, I believe, and there were little bits inside it…”

“Little bits?” Kimiko asked, looking as confused as ever. Though I suppose Hideyoshi’s sudden reveal might’ve thrown her off even more than usual.

“Yup. Little metal bits. Well, wiring, perhaps? Something like that.”

“Nina’s vote of confidence aside,” Tetsu spoke up again, “I would like to know if you have any actual evidence to prove your claims.”

“Would I make the claim if I didn’t?” Nobu asked, before lifting up his camera with a faint smile. “As I’ve said before, I like to keep a few aces up my sleeves.” With that said, he took out his handbook and took a picture of what was on his camera, a new image joining the other pieces of evidence up on screen.

Nobu promptly selected the new picture, and displayed the image of an orange extension cord, cut off on one end, wrapped around Kimihito’s leg. “Does that suffice as proof? If not, I have another picture of the part wrapped around the ceiling fan.”

“No, I believe you,” Tetsu replied, crossing his arms over his chest. “So it was an extension cord...and Hideyoshi knew that without any one of us telling him.”

“What can I say? God’s are all-knowing,” Hide “explained”, leaning on his podium. “I do find it funny though, Mr. Tabloid, that you decided to keep this information from your fellow investigators. Not a fan of sharing the spotlight?”

“It trapped you, didn’t it?” Nobu replied dryly. 

“Perhaps it did, perhaps it didn’t. Still, good effort.”

“Good enough to get you to confess?”

“Hm...Ah, might as well.” Hide shrugged. “It would get too boring if I dragged this out any longer. I, Hideyoshi Sato, the God of Joy and Sorrow, am responsible for cutting apart Kimihito Yamazaki. I took that kitchen knife-” He pulled up an image of the bloody knife. “-shoved it into his chest and neck-” He pulled up the image of Kimihito’s shredded body. “-and dragged it through his unresisting flesh, ripping straight through all those important vitals of his.

Even though he was wearing a mask, we could all tell Hide was smiling. “And then I purchased a can of paint and an extension cord to arrange the scene of the crime however I wished.” He brought up the images of the items. “Or perhaps I did that first. I suppose it all got a bit fuzzy back then, maybe? After all, wasn’t I supposed to be panicked?”

“Yeah, you were,” I muttered, frowning at Hideyoshi. “Actually, how do you explain all of that? Why did you head into the trash room like that?”

“Why else? To dispose of the evidence. Of course, I had completely forgotten my poor keys back in my room, so I wound up doing some very foolish things in my frenzy.”

“No, that’s not right,” I replied. _There’s something way off about what he’s saying._ “You just said you went to get the paint can and extension cord after cutting up his body. Why wouldn’t you go to get your keys if that was the case?” I brought the trash rotation list up on screen. “It was your turn, so you should’ve had access to all the garbage chutes.”

Hide huffed. “You’re making this far more complicated than it needs to be...I just said I very well could have gotten the order of events wrong-”

“Then when did you get all your stuff together? Before or after you killed Kimihito?”

“After, of course.”

“When you were panicking? Why not dispose of everything properly when you calmed down then?”

“Because I smashed the lock on the trash chute. Clearly it couldn’t be open-”

“There’s two more chutes. Why didn’t you use either of them? And before you say anything, we all know there isn’t a rule against using the wrong chutes.”

“Ah, I should probably add that…” Kinkuma muttered, holding a bag of popcorn for some reason.

Hide let out a long, exaggerated sigh. “Can’t I simply do something foolish in the heat of the moment?”

“But it wasn’t the heat of the moment,” Fuyumi noted, frowning at Hide. “If you calmed down and then went to the trouble of rearranging the crime scene, why wouldn’t you go back and ensure the evidence you left was disposed of? The broom in the incinerator handles alone would’ve definitely been something you’d want to take care of.”

“Well, what if I wanted the wrench to be found?” Hideyoshi asked, holding his hands out to his sides. “Perhaps this was simply one grand game to me? It would be no fun if the investigation was completely impossible, after all.”

“Um, actually, that reminds me,” Kiru suddenly spoke up, frowning in confusion. “Why, um...Why did you specifically cut up the throat and chest? You didn’t mark Kimihito’s face at all.”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Hide tapped the smiling side of his mask. “Poor Kimihito went all throughout life being unnoticed and overlooked. How could I possibly be so cruel to give him such a simple and undignified death as being struck with wrench? No, no, no, it had be something _grand_. He had to finally have the spotlight all to himself. When, not entirely, of course. I’m sharing it right now, but it’s his show this time.” Hide chuckled. “This trial wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for him, after all.”

“So is that why you cut him up?” Vito asked, glaring at Hide, his hands clenched and shaking. “For some deluded idea of making him important? For your fucking performance?” Strangely enough, Hide actually flinched, staring at Vito with...was that hurt in his eyes?

“It’s not an uncommon reason for murder,” Nobu noted. “Psychotics with delusions of grandeur will often act like they’ve done their victim a favor for killing them. I will admit, it is a bit disappointing to learn that’s all there was to it.”

“Ha! All there is to it?!” Hide suddenly rallied, snapping his gaze back towards Nobu and gesturing dramatically again. “You act as though the act of making such a grand artistic performance is a simple, nay, a mundane action! And yet, I drove all of you into such a flurry of panic! I granted the anonymous a grandiose stage of his own! Though you may all look on my with such disgust, I can go to my death proudly, knowing that he looks upon my efforts with true gratitude!”

[FUCKING HELL DUDE. SOMEBODY’S BEEN GUZZLING THE KOOL-AID.] Akiba said, clearly disturbed by Hide’s explanation.  
“Perhaps we should just start the vote already,” Miyabi muttered, glaring at Hide. “He’s clearly unashamed of his actions. It would be best to get this over with-”

“Actually, can you hold on one sec?” Beatrice interrupted, holding up a hand as she frowned in thought. “There’s some stuff that’s still bothering me about this.”

“Ooooooh? Now what could that possibly be?” Hide asked, propping his head up on one hand. “Was my explanation insufficient?”

“Yeah, it was,” she replied. “Your act is actually pretty full of holes. For one thing, what about the sheet?”

“The sheet?” Hide asked. “Didn’t we go over this earlier? I used it to protect from the blood spatter-”

“No, that’s not right!” I snapped, glaring at Hide, who met my gaze evenly, a bit of annoyance in his gaze. “We already went over this. The bloodstains don’t match that at all. They had to have happened long after the corpse was already dead!”

“Exactly!” Beatrice agreed, grinning at me, before smirking at Hide. “So, why would you have done that? Why bother using the sheet if you weren’t in any danger of being sprayed with blood?”

“Ah, so that’s it,” Nobu suddenly said. He chuckled to himself, smirking at Hide. “Well then. Now things are starting to make sense.”

“Wait, they are?” _Oh, great, Nobu’s frowning at me again._

“You just...Beatrice, please help her.” _Hey!_

“Heh. Alright, Atsuko, what reason would Hide have to try to soak the sheet with blood hours after the murder happened?”

“Um...Oh, wait…” I frowned in thought. “He wanted to make it look like he used the sheet around the time of the murder?”

“Exactly,” Nobu replied. “The fact that he left the sheet with the paint can and the knife were to cause us to connect those items. If the sheet and knife are bloody, they must’ve both been used at the same time, right?”

“Wait, so...they weren’t?” Vito asked, looking confused.

“No, they were.”

“What? But I thought you were...the hell are you talking about now?”

“Something you can’t quite grasp, it seems.”

I frowned, ignoring Vito growling angrily. “If they were all used together...Hideyoshi must’ve cut up the corpse long after the body was dead. So he must not’ve been panicking at that point. Which raises the question again. If that was the case, why didn’t he dispose of the evidence properly?” I pointed at the deranged actor. “And don’t say you did it to be dramatic again. You clearly did this to-...You didn’t kill him.”

“Er, hold on,” Tadashi spoke up, his brow furrowed in confusion. “I’m a bit lost here. You’re saying Hideyoshi didn’t kill Kimihito?”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense,” I replied. _Even though it really doesn’t make sense at all._ “For some reason, he decided to make himself look like the culprit. I guarantee he didn’t kill Kimihito though.”

“Oh? Well that’s an odd thing to say,” Hideyoshi said, staring at me with clear amusement. “Why would I not kill Kimihito? Or, to phrase it better, why would I want to take the blame for his murder?”

“I don’t know. I don’t suppose you want to make it easy and explain why?”

“Now why in the world would I do that? Assuming you are right, I’ve already gone to the trouble of constructing everything like this. So why would I ever want to confess?” 

“You’re quite annoyingly stubborn,” Nobu said, frowning at Hide who simply shrugged in response. Suddenly, the actor pointed straight up at the ceiling.

“If I am to be the villain here, then I shall play my part as grandly as I can!” he shouted, before lowering his finger to point at me. “So, Ms. Oko, my new rival, why don’t you deliver proof?! Prove to everyone that I could not have been the murderer! As Ms. Raito declared, evidence is everything in court!” He suddenly slammed his hands on the podium, cocking his head and leering at me. “ _SO SHOW ME WHAT YOU’VE GOT!_ ”

 _...I probably should’ve left this to Fuyumi._ Taking a breath to steady myself, I stared back at Hideyoshi, trying to seem a lot more confident than I was. _Okay, okay...Think, how can you prove for a fact that he couldn’t be the killer? If he cut up the body maybe hours after Kimihito was killed, then he wouldn’t know what time he actually died? No, no, he could wave that one off...He must’ve gotten up early in the morning if he did cut up the body...he was awake before I was, and Fuyumi was up too...So he got up before her, headed to the laundry room, and found Kimihito’s body there? Like-...Like Chinatsu and Nina did. Like the_ two _of them did._

I brought up my e-handbook. Instead of going into the evidence folder where all the pictures were, I brought up something we’d all already seen. Something that had been on all of our e-handbooks since the first day we arrived in this hellhole.

\----:----

Up on screen, a single sentence appeared, proving Hideyoshi’s entire claim completely wrong.

 **Rule 8** : Once a murder takes place, the Body Discovery Announcement will occur after the body has been found by a minimum of **three** non-blackened contestants.

\----:----

 _Gotcha._ I couldn’t help smirking as everybody looked up at the screens. Hideyoshi stared blankly at the rule up there, before suddenly slapping a palm to his face.

“SON OF A BITCH!” the actor suddenly shouted, groaning in annoyance as he slowly dragged his hand down his face. Well, down his mask. “I completely forgot about that stupid fucking rule…Uuuuuuugh…”

“Um...what does that mean?” Kimiko asked. “I thought Nina and Chinatsu discovered the body?”

“They did. But rule eight specifically states that three people have to find the corpse,” I explained, honestly feeling pretty proud of myself. “Nina and Chinatsu count as two, so, who had to find the corpse before them?”

“Ah, so that’s it,” Chinatsu muttered, glancing over at Hide. His mask did absolutely nothing to hide the mix of exasperation and annoyance the actor was clearly feeling. “So you found the corpse before the two of us, and decided to alter the crime scene?”

“Why, exactly?” Nina asked, raising an eyebrow at him. “You could have simply told us about the body, and then everyone would have had an easier time discovering the killer.”

“Because that would be so dull!” Hide exclaimed, throwing his hand wide again. “I was being serious earlier! Just leaving him on the floor like that, in a drying pool of his own blood? No, I could never! The poor bastard was already overlooked by everyone, it was the least I could do to make it up to him!” _Are you kidding me._

“Are you kidding me.” Nobu asked, his expression as blank as mine. “You mutilated a corpse out of altruism?”

“Well, sort of. Honestly, I saw a couple chances so, well, I took them,” Hide replied, shrugging. “Everybody in this world exists for a purpose. If Kimihito’s was to set off this first trial, then why wouldn’t I want to help him do his best in that role? And it honestly did make this entire trial so much more interesting, you have to admit.”

“I don’t have to admit anything. You’re delusional.”

“And you’re cynical. It’s a character trait.” Hide shrugged again. “Besides, I was getting tired of going so long with just my actor persona. This trial seemed like the appropriate dramatic moment to reveal my divinity.”

[WELL, PLEASED TO MEET YOU, FELLOW GOD.] Akiba replied, still looking a bit bemused but trying to grin at Hide. [I HAVE TO SAY THOUGH, STAGING YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN A MURDER IS KINDA A WEIRD WAY OF SHOWING YOURSELF OFF.]

“Eh. My original plan was to reveal myself when Kinkuma started revealing everyone’s ‘criminal talents’, but then this sudden opportunity arrived, and, well, who am I to deny the whims of fate?”

“So...we’re wrong about the culprit. Again,” Miyabi noted, frowning. “Does this mean we have to start from scratch again?”

“Not entirely from scratch,” Nobu said, noting something down on his notepad. “We’ve definitively proven that the mutilator and the actual murderer are two separate people, as well as proven that Hideyoshi, while responsible for disrupting the crime scene, did not, in fact, murder Kimihito.”

[WOOHOO, WE GOT RID OF ONE SUSPECT. NICE WORK EVERYBODY, TIME TO PACK IT UP AND GO HOME OH WAIT WE CAN’T BECAUSE WE DON’T KNOW WHO THE ACTUAL KILLER IS WHOOPS MY MISTAKE.] Akiba smirked at Nobu. [THAT’S WHAT YOU SOUND LIKE.]

“Your impression is astounding,” Nobu replied in complete deadpan. 

“Actually, didn’t we also prove that Atsuko and Kinute are not the culprit either?” Tadashi asked, scratching his cheek. “The entire first discussion we had solidified that neither of them committed the murder, right?”

“To a degree, yes,” Nobu said. “Aside from her apparent meeting with Fuyumi in the kitchen, I can confirm on my own that it’s very unlikely, if not impossible, that Atsuko is the culprit, based on her behavior this morning.” _Oh, right, that. ...Nobu, you better not say anything._

“Her behavior this morning?” _I hate you Tetsu._

“She was quite distraught over the murder,” that smug prick explained, a ghost of a smile around his lips. “To the point she immediately rushed to Beatrice’s door in an effort to find out if she was the victim.”

“Ah, so she didn’t even know who the victim was, so she couldn’t have been the killer,” Tadashi mused, ignoring how a few of the others started grinning at me. And how Kimiko gave me a thumbs up. _Bleh._ “Which also means that Fuyumi likely isn’t the murderer either, since the story about the two of them meeting up in the kitchen is probably true.”

“Assuming Atsuko and Fuyumi are telling the truth, which is very likely, it also exonerates Kinute by extension,” Nobu noted. “Since she accurately described their movements, we can assume her story about staying up to see who did what is also accurate, meaning she’s likely not the killer.”

“Er, why?” Vito asked. “I mean, I do not like suspecting her, but-”

[Y’KNOW, KIKI DID LOOK PRETTY TIRED THIS MORNING,] Akiba spoke over him, causing Vito to growl at him. Again. [POOR THING PROBABLY GOT ALL TUCKERED OUT FROM ALL THE VOYEURISM.]

Kinute huffed angrily at Akiba, but still kept quiet, pointedly looking away from him.

“We can also eliminate Chinatsu and Nina from the suspect list since the two of them discovered the corpse,” Tadashi continued, ignoring Vito and Akiba. “If Hideyoshi couldn’t have committed the murder because he helped trigger the body announcement, it’s safe to say these two can’t be suspects either. Unless someone else found the corpse and didn’t speak up before this?”

Tadashi waited a moment for someone to speak up, then continued when no one did. “We can also take Kiru off the list of possible suspects thanks to Kinkuma’s slip up earlier. So that’s seven people that we’ve definitively proven cannot be the killer. I suppose we should go over everyone’s alibis?”

“I think that’s for the best,” I spoke up. _We’re getting closer to the truth…_ “I guess I’ll start us off? You all know why I’m probably not the killer. And, um...I’m pretty sure Beatrice isn’t either.”

Nobu immediately sighed in exasperation. “Please tell me you have an actual reason to believe your girlfriend isn’t guilty?” _Really not the time, Nobu._

“Oh, you two are dating now? Congratulations!” _Goddammit Nina…_

“Heh, sorry, nothing official yet. Atsuko’s shy~.” _BEATRICE WHY?!_

“Um, are you okay Atsuko?” Kiru asked, actually sounding concerned. “Your face is looking rather red.”

I slowly dragged my hand down my face, groaning in annoyance as I noticed Beatrice grinning at me. “Fine, whatever. I was going to tell everybody that you seemed too surprised this morning to actually have any knowledge about the murder, but I guess I’ll just...give me a second to think of a good threat.”

“Beatrice, you can tease Atsuko later,” Nobu spoke up, looking bored again. _You started it, you complete and utter prick._ “Though I do agree you seemed quite exhausted this morning. Curious, considering you decided to go to bed early last night. Though I suppose you didn’t eat dinner…”

“You didn’t?” Beatrice stiffened when she heard my voice, grinning awkwardly back at me.

“Uh...Well, I mean, I was pretty tired and I wasn’t very hungry, so, um…”

“Then why were you so poorly rested this morning?” Nobu asked.

“...I kinda stayed up all night,” Beatrice explained, scratching her head. “I was reading the book Atsuko bought me…” _Oh. Hm. I’m not sure how to feel about that._

“I suppose your testimony seems solid enough,” Nobu said, glancing at me. “Do you have any further evidence to prove she couldn’t have been the culprit?”

“Well, I mean, there are the footprints in the trash room,” I suggested, bringing up a picture of the bloody footsteps. “Beatrice wears heels all the time, so these can’t be her footprints.”

Nobu sighed again. _Oh come on, that one makes sense._ “You do realize Beatrice could own multiple pairs of shoes, right?” _Oh. Whoops._

“Yeah, sorry, I do actually have other shoes, Atsuko,” Beatrice spoke up, grinning apologetically. “It was a good guess though?” _Feh._

“Well, how nobody saw her leave her room at all last night, right?” I asked. “If we’re all sure Kinute is telling the truth, then that means she didn’t see Beatrice leave her room at all.”

“Are you sure about that?” Chinatsu asked, frowning thoughtfully. “Beatrice’s room is closer to the lounge door than Kinute’s. If she was just peeking through a crack in the door, then she very well could have missed her.”

“Fuck off,” Kinute suddenly muttered, glaring up at Chinatsu, who stared evenly back. “I looked in the hallway, asshole. I didn’t see anyone there.”

“Really? You looked out into the hallway itself, and saw no one there?” Nobu asked, leaning forward slightly as he stared at her.

“That’s what I _said_. Fucking listen next time…” Kinute huffed angrily, glaring at Nobu as he kept staring at her. “What? I didn’t see anyone walk past my door, so I looked in the hallway.”

“So you would have seen someone entering the lounge?”

“Yeah? I guess, sure. What’s your point?”

Nobu smiled, crossing something off on his notepad. “My point is that the culprit may not have gone to their room in the first place. They very well could have stayed up to murder Kimihito, and then returned to their room _after_ committing the crime. In fact, if Atsuko and Fuyumi were in the kitchen at the time immediately following the murder, the killer likely waited until they went back to bed to keep themselves from being discovered.”

Letting that sink in for a moment, Nobu straightened up, a little gleam in his eyes. “Now then, shall we all testify as to what we each did last night and what time we went to our rooms?”

“I went to bed some time after Beatrice did, I think,” Kimiko promptly answered with a shrug, staring down at her lighter again. “Lots of people were still up and talking and doing stuff. Hide got us all together for dinner, ‘cept for Atsuko since she was in her room, and then we all just kind of hung around in the dining hall. Chinatsu and Nina set up a card game, and people were talking to each other about, like, past stuff. Oh, except for Kinute, who kept glaring at everybody until she went to her room, and Hide, who went to bed at, like...nine-ish?”

“It’s best to get plenty of sleep when you have plans in the morning,” Hideyoshi chimed in, leaning on his podium. _Why are you acting so casual?_

Kimiko raised a...non-existent eyebrow at Hide, before shrugging and continuing. “I started getting sleepy later on in the night, so I said goodnight and headed to my room. Dunno the exact time…”

“I can probably answer that,” Tadashi spoke up, glancing over at Kimiko before looking back at Nobu. “She went back to her room shortly before I did, and I had gone back to my room around ten thirty.” 

“I-I didn't see when Kimiko went to sleep, but I did hear Tadashi excusing himself around ten thirty, like he said,” Kiru chimed in. “Oh, and, um, I think I went to bed at ten forty? Sometime before eleven, I’m sure.”

_So that's ten people cleared so far._

“If I may,” Miyabi spoke up. “While I can't completely say this makes him innocent, Akiba’s devices don't have any blood on them and they seem to working just fine. So it’s fairly likely that he hasn’t had to clean them free of blood stains.”

“Considering the state of the laundry room, it is quite likely that there was a blood spray at the moment of impact,” Nobu mused. “If there was, then Akiba’s devices would have undoubtedly been stained at best, damaged at worst. In addition, the murder took place after eleven PM, so the water would have been turned off due to the night time rule, meaning they couldn't wash away any possible stains…”

[SO I’M OFF THE HOOK?]

“At the very least, it’s unlikely that you were the one who murdered Kimihito. You could have removed your devices, I suppose, but that speaks to a level of forethought that the true killer hasn’t displayed.”

[GONNA TAKE THAT AS A YES THEN.] Akiba grinned, giving Miyabi a thumbs up. [THANKS SEXY LADY!]

“...Sexy lady?” Miyabi mumbled, raising an eyebrow at the cheerful technician.

“You sure it’s not him?” Vito muttered, scowling at Akiba.

“Fairly certain. Aside from the bit about his devices, he did announce rather loudly that he was going to bed at ten twenty last night. Unless you have evidence to prove that he could be the killer?” Nobu asked.

Vito just mumbled something, looking away from the journalist’s questioning gaze.

“Moving on, that just leaves Miyabi, Nobu, Tetsu, and Vito,” Tadashi stated as he glanced at the four in question

“I've already said I'm not the killer,” Nobu replied without missing a beat, busy writing something down in his notepad. 

“Oh you’ve got to fucking kidding with me,” Vito growled, glaring at Nobu now. “I thought you were all about facts and truths and all that? Where’s your evidence that you’re not the killer?!”

Nobu glanced up from his notepad with his usual blank “I think you’re an idiot” look, which really just pissed Vito off more. “I’m blatantly not the killer. There's your evidence.” 

_Nobu...It doesn’t work like that. At all._

“Er, Nobu, you do need some actual evidence,” Fuyumi pointed out. “We can’t just take your word for it.”

Nobu rolled his eyes, sighing in annoyance. “If you're really going to persist, Atsuko can vouch for me.” _I can?_ “I asked her who died when we encountered each other this morning. Hence my annoyance with her today, since she responded that she didn't know because she had run off to check on her girlfriend without actually finding out anything about the murder.” 

“Nobu being a prick aside,” I spoke up, frowning at the irritating journalist, “That is what happened this morning. Uh, the part with him asking me a question and being annoyed with me, I mean. Not the girlfriend part. I mean, like, we’re not really girlfriends.”

“Oh my. Did you two break up already?” _Nina, please learn to read the mood. And stop looking so upset! We’re not even dating yet!_

Beatrice sighed dramatically. “Ah, to think our shining star of love would burn out so quickly! Truly, this is a most tragic day!”

“Can we _please_ get back on track already?” Ignoring Hide applauding Beatrice’s “performance” and the teasing grins I was receiving, I glanced back at Nobu. “What time did you go to bed anyway?”

“Hm? Perhaps sometime around twelve thirty AM,” he replied. “I went back to my room at ten thirty-five PM when it became clear that we were never going to get anything else done, and spent my time going over my notes and reading a few books I had brought with me to Hope’s Peak. That were still in my satchel, for some reason.”

“I have no reason to mess with your belongings, Mr. Konto,” Kinkuma spoke up, propping his head up on one hand, his popcorn bag discarded off to the side. “All contestants are allowed to keep anything that won’t interfere with the competition.”

“Well, at least there’s that,” I muttered. “So, can we cross Nobu off the list?”

“Are you really so sure we can?!” Vito suddenly said, still glaring at Nobu. “This...fuck, what’s the word? Not anxious, not...fuck it. This fucker is still ridiculously suspicious!”

“No, I don’t think Nobu did it,” Fuyumi replied, looking thoughtful. “I did see him head out of the dining hall a few minutes after ten thirty. I went to my room at about...ten fifty, I’m fairly certain…”

“And the three remaining suspects were still awake at that point?” Tadashi asked, looking serious.

“No, no, I went to bed at that point,” Vito denied immediately. “At uh, um...sono le...b-before eleven, ah, I think. Er...come si dice quindici?”

“Are you trying to say fifteen?” I asked. _He’s...getting really nervous._

“Yes! Yes, that one, that one, fifteen, fifteen minutes before eleven! That is what I meant to say, right.” Vito grinned awkwardly, only to immediately grimace when Fuyumi spoke up again.

“That can’t be right...I saw you in the kitchen, Vito,” Fuyumi said, frowning at him. “When I was heading to bed, you were doing something with a saucepan.”

“What? What, what is, uh, what is the problem?” he replied, trying to grin again. One of his fingers was tapping against the podium as he tried to think. “I was, ah, I was making hot, um...hot chocolate, that I was doing! You see, my mother would make me hot, ah, cocoa, cioccolata calda, when I was upset and it would calm me down. A-And, um, I was very very angry from earlier but I wanted to sleep and so I made the drink! Simple explanation, yeah?” Off to the side, Nobu noted something down.

“I believe I can confirm that,” Miyabi spoke up. “I went to bed a bit after Fuyumi, and I saw Vito with a mug, with some steam rising from it. I assume he had prepared his hot chocolate then?”

“Yes! Yes, yes, exactly, thank you very much Donna Shitateya, I, uh, yes, thank you,” he stammered, clenching his hand into a fist to keep his fingers from tapping. “A-And I saw her go through the kitchen to her room, so that leaves Testu! So he is clearly the killer, yes?”

“Do you truly believe that?” Tetsu raised an eyebrow at Vito. “As I have told you all, I refuse to take anymore lives. I would not break that oath for any reason.”

“Even if it meant having your murderous past revealed to the world?” Nobu asked.

“Hmph. My past is not hidden. Any fool could learn whatever truth about me they desired to.”

“You say that, but do we even know you are telling the truth about being the Ultimate Killer?” Vito snarled, going right back to being angry. “You could have done something even worse that you don’t want anyone to know at all costs!”

“Projection does not suit you, Vittorio.”

“Projection? What? What does that mean?” Vito asked, clearly baffled. _...It’s down to these two, isn’t it? Unless I’m missing something big...Either Tetsu or Vito killed Kimihito. And...it’s got to be...fuck, did he?_

“Hm. Kimihito was one of the last people to head to bed then?” Nobu suddenly asked, looking thoughtful.

“Yes, that is the case,” Tetsu promptly replied. _He seems really calm._ “Though it was difficult to tell at times, due to his tendency to disappear if someone is not paying attention to his presence, Kimihito did stay up quite late with us. He and I were in a discussion over some of the dojos I visited over the years of my violent youth, until the song of sleep called to him. I...decided to stay back for a bit, and clean up the dining room. That...was likely a poor decision.”

“Oh right, like we’re supposed to believe you,” Vito growled. _He’s agitated…_ “You say you stayed back, yeah? So you could have easily followed Kimihito when he went to the laundry room and killed him there!”

“That does remind me,” Nobu suddenly spoke up, tapping his pen against his notepad. “Why did Kimihito go to the laundry room that night?” _Huh?_

“What? Isn’t it-” Vito abruptly froze, before trying to grin again. “A-Ah, that is a good question actually! Um, I suppose it, uh...is unknown to us!”

“Unknown to them, yes. Unknown to us?” Nobu gestured at Vito with his pen, then pointed it at himself. “No, not at all.”

“W-What the hell is that supposed to mean?” _Kimihito...went into the laundry room last night for a specific reason, huh…_

“Nobu,” I spoke up, actually kind of dreading this next part. _I...really don’t want to do this again._ “What...What happened to Kimihito’s jacket?”

“What?” “Hold on, what?” “Wait…” Everybody suddenly started speaking up, everyone looking confused. Everyone...except for me, Nobu, and...Vito. Nobu wasn’t smiling. He actually looked pretty grim, like he just had something terrible confirmed for himself. And Vito…

Vito looked pale.

“Don’t…” he muttered, his wide eyes flitting between Nobu and me, his clenched fist starting to shudder. “Don’t you dare…”

“Atsuko. Where does one put a blazer when they want to wash it quickly?” Nobu asked, all the other sound in the room seeming to die away as he stared at me.

And I, like the good student I am, answered him. “In a washing machine.”

“...Um, what?” somebody had to ask. I think it was Kimiko, the pyro’s voice coming out soft and bewildered in the silence. “What does that mean?”

“Kimihito Yamazaki went to the laundry room at eleven PM last night,” Nobu began, closing his notepad and laying it down on his podium. “To wash his jacket, which had been stained.”

“With what?” Beatrice asked, her voice also quiet. She wasn’t confused though. She knew where this was going. Nobu looked at me again, and his lips twitched upward. _Fucker…_

“With hot chocolate,” I replied. “Isn’t that right, Nobu?” _Vito sealed his fate the second he said that, didn’t he?_

“Atsuko is correct,” he stated, before smirking. He took another picture of something that was on his camera, and a new image popped up in our album of evidence: a greenish-brown jacket, laid out on a washing machine, with a large dark brown stain on its front.

“So that’s what you were doing,” Chinatsu muttered as she stared up at the new evidence, before explaining further. “Nobu hung back when the trial announcement came on, said he had one more thing he wanted to check out. We were pretty sure we found everything already, so it seemed fine to go ahead without him.”

“Aw, that’s annoying,” Hideyoshi abruptly spoke up, pouting. “Leaving out crucial evidence until the last minute is just unsatisfying…”

“I don’t particularly care about your obsession with drama,” Nobu replied, completely ignoring how he clearly kept info to himself just so he could reveal it dramatically. “Besides, I didn’t know for sure the jacket would be important. Initially, I had no idea what had stained his jacket, or if it would matter to the case. 

“The most I knew was that it has to be something brown,” he continued, before grinning victoriously at Vito. “Such as hot chocolate. So, tell me, did you purposefully spill your drink on Kimihito in order to lure him to the laundry room, or was it an accident that you took advantage of?” 

“Would you shut up you fucking arrogant shit!?” Vito shouted, slamming his hands on the podium. “That doesn’t prove anything! That bastard could have just spilled the remaining hot chocolate on himself! I didn’t have anything to do with it!”

“And just why would there be any extra? After all, you made it for yourself, so you would have only made enough for one person,” Nobu replied, smiling calmly.

“I accidently got a big pan and made too much! I went back to my room and left the remaining hot chocolate on the stove!” Vito continued, gripping the podium as he continued glaring at Nobu. 

“So Kimihito decided to take your leftover hot chocolate, and was clumsy enough to spill it on himself?”

“You don't have anything that says I'm lying!”

 _You sure about that, Vito? There must be something that tells us what happened. Some mistake you made…_ Doing my best to ignore the increasingly angry back and forth between Vito and Nobu, I tried to find an answer. _If Vito did have a mug by the time Miyabi saw him, then he must have finished with the saucepan and kettle by then. And what do you do with dishes when they’re done with them?_

“Akiba, did you take any pictures of the sink?” I asked, trying to ignore how Vito stiffened at my question.

[OF COURSE I DID. IT TOOK ABOUT FIVE PICTURES TO TRULY CAPTURE THE BEAUTY OF THAT STEEL KITCHEN SINK,] he replied, grinning at me without a care. Apparently Vito glaring furiously at him didn’t concern him at all. [WHY DO YOU ASK?] 

Instead of responding, I just searched through the images Akiba had taken of the kitchen. It didn’t take long for me to find an image of the sink, a small saucepan in it soaking in water, alongside a little mug.

Vito immediately knew what I was suggesting. “I-It...Th-That…”

“Pan looks far too small for there to be enough for another drink,” Nobu finished for him, smirking again as Vito paled.

“I…I…S-So what! Fine, I spilled my drink on him, I’ll admit that you fucking _prick!_ But I went to bed right after! You can't prove I killed him! For all you fucking know, one of these assholes lied about their alibi!” 

“Vito, please, you're being unreasonable-” Hideyoshi tried to speak up, only for Vito to immediately whirl on him.

“Unreasonable!? Me!? FUCK YOU! I don't want to hear that from someone who mutilated a body just for the sake of drama, you fucking psycho cultist!” Vito shouted, glaring at Hide as the actor blinked back at him with clear surprise and sadness.

“Ah...Sorry,” Hide mumbled, actually looking really hurt, despite the mask concealing his features. _...I don’t know if I should feel bad for him._

“What about the blood spatter?” Beatrice asked, her voice quiet. She was quite clearly averting her eyes from Vito, staring down at her podium, her hat blocking her eyes from our sight. “When...When the culprit hit the victim with the wrench, there was a lot of blood, right?”

“T-The fuck are you trying to s-” 

“Your clothes,” she answered, speaking over Vito. “If there was any sort of blood spray, then they should’ve been sprayed with blood, right?”

“Y-Yeah, yes, you are right!” Vito replied, trying to smile again. “A-And clearly they were not! See? Completely clear, so it could not have been me!”

“Vito, that’s not it,” I spoke up. “Everybody here has multiple copies of each outfit, right?” Receiving a round of nods from everyone but Vito, who was starting to get pale again, I continued. “So it could still have happened.”

“But does that mean anything?” Fuyumi asked, frowning in thought. “If Vito was careful, he could have burned his clothes in the incinerator.”

“I-I...I-I d-didn’t, I couldn’t-” Vito muttered, his hands starting to tremble as he gripped his podium.

“Not possible,” Nobu said, smirking. “The incinerator is turned off at night, much like the other utilities.”

“It’s simpler then that,” I mumbled, ignoring how Nobu raised his eyebrow at me. “Racing suits like that are usually fireproof, right? So if Vito is the killer, then he couldn’t get rid of his outfit by burning it.”

“So...where is it then?” Tadashi asked, sounding solemn. The whole court was starting to feel somber. There wasn’t any triumph in this.

The color was completely drained from Vito’s face, and he flinched when Nobu spoke up again. Out of all of us, the journalist seemed actually a bit entertained, like he was enjoying tearing down Vito’s arguments. “Most likely in his room. It’s not as though he has anywhere else he could reasonably hide it. I suppose we could ask Kinkuma for a quick recess if we really have to.”

“That’s not necessary,” Beatrice muttered. “We could just check to see if his shoes match up with the footprints leading through the laundry room and disposal room.”

“But heading to his room would provide a much more solid argument. Irrefutable proof, I’d say.” Nobu turned away from Beatrice, smirking at Vito, who was completely white. “Unless you’d prefer to confess now?”

“...Fuck you. Burn in hell,” Vito snarled, glaring venomously at Nobu, who simply closed his notepad in response.

“I suppose that’s as good a reply as any. Is there anything else we need to-”

“Nobu, please stop,” I told him, keeping my clenched fists at my sides. “We’re done here. Let’s get this over with.”

“Hmph. Well-”

“No.” _Eh?_

Vito slammed a fist against the podium, glaring venomously at Nobu, before turning that gaze on me. His eyes looked like they were burning with a blue fire, filled with pure rage. “Fuck. THIS! _BULLSHIT!_ YOU SERIOUSLY THINK I’M GOING TO JUST STAND HERE AND LET YOU FILTHY COCKSUCKING BASTARDS RUIN MY LIFE!?”

“You realize a response like that just makes you look guilty, right?” Nobu asked, looking unimpressed as Vito snarled at him.

“I DON’T CARE! Fuck you, FUCK ALL OF YOU! You said fucking evidence mattered, right!? Then where is it!? All I’m hearing is...is...fuck, fuck what’s the fucking-”

“Speculation?” Fuyumi offered, frowning as Vito started trembling. He looked up at her, trying to speak through the anger overtaking him. Anger...and fear, it seemed.

“W-W-What about you?! Huh?! Couldn’t you have killed him!?” He sounded desperate. Fuyumi frowned at him, but didn’t reply.

“Timeline doesn’t make sense,” Nobu spoke up instead, looking irritated. “If she did meet up with Atsuko in the kitchen, then she wouldn’t have had time to murder Kimihito and clean herself up enough to be presentable. No, it has to be you.”

“N-No, it doesn’t! It could...What about the bear?!”

“I’m impartial in this,” Kinkuma spoke up. “Accuse me again and I’ll show everyone the camera footage from the crime scene.” Judging by how pale Vito got, Kinkuma showing us that footage would have sealed his fate. As it was...

“I think it’s fairly clear who the murderer is. We do have evidence to prove that fact, and Vito’s inability to accept it doesn’t have any bearing on its validity. Let’s just put an end to this,” Fuyumi said, looking tired. “Why don’t we just go over the events of this case just one more time? We can ease everyone’s doubts and...make sure we didn’t make any mistakes.”

Based on how scared and furious Vito looked, it was pretty obvious we hadn’t made a mistake in who the culprit was. Still...it felt terrible, to be honest. Vito was a sleaze and a jerk. He flirted too much, he got angry too easily, and he could be incredibly unpleasant when stressed. Knowing all that...He was still a person. With hopes and dreams. And what we were about to do to him could only be described as vile.

I took a breath, and began recounting the events of this case. Of the horrific murder and mutilation of Kimihito Yamazaki.

\----[Recap]----

“Okay, to start us off: yesterday, Kinkuma announced a motive for all of us, so Hideyoshi brought us all together to discuss it,” I began. As I spoke, the screens around the courtroom suddenly switched to a rather well-done drawing of all of us sitting around the dining room table and arguing with each other. “The meeting...didn’t go well. People left the meeting sporadically throughout the day, until only a few people were left behind.”

“Sometime between ten thirty and eleven PM, the culprit went to the kitchen make themselves a cup of hot chocolate, apparently to calm themselves down.” The image switched to a comic of the culprit, portrayed as a featureless gray figure, preparing and pouring themselves a cup of hot cocoa. “However, once they made the hot chocolate, they ran into Kimihito Yamazaki, who accidentally bumped into them, spilling the culprit’s drink over the front of his jacket.”

A sheepish looking Kimihito seemed to be apologizing to the culprit, the gray figure waving off his apologies with a clearly annoyed expression. “The culprit and Kimihito went to the laundry room to clean up his jacket. While there...something set the killer off.” A close-up of the killer’s enraged visage appeared on-screen.

“While Kimihito’s back was turned, the killer grabbed the wrench that was left in laundry room, along with a bunch of other tools, and struck Kimihito from behind with it.” An image of Kimihito getting his head smashed in appeared. A spray of blood painted the image a bright red. “Kimihito probably died instantly. His head hit the side of a washing machine as he fell, leaving a bruise over a part of his forehead.”

“Then the killer panicked.” Now a close-up of the killer’s frightened face. “He probably didn’t expect there to be so much blood from the head wound. The blood covered his outfit, and coated the bottom of his shoes when he was walking around, causing him to leave bloody footprints where he walked.”

“Afraid of his crime being discovered, the killer headed to the disposal room, hoping to get rid of the evidence. He didn’t have much luck, since he didn’t have the key to the trash chutes” Two comic panels appeared, first of the killer bashing the lock of the trash chute into a dented mess, then of him shoving the wrench into the incinerator. “The killer couldn’t get rid of his murder weapon properly, so, in a moment of panic, he threw the wrench into the incinerator and shoved a broom through the handles of the machine in an attempt to keep people out, inadvertently drawing more attention to it.”

“Once that was done, the killer fled from the crime scene and tried to head back to his room. However, since Fuyumi and I were in the kitchen-” An image of the two of us talking appeared, the killer peeking in through the kitchen door behind us. “-I’m guessing he couldn’t get back to his room without risking discovery. And being caught completely covered in blood would’ve looked terrible for him, I imagine. So he waited for us to go back, and then headed to his room.”

“Unknown to the killer, Kinute was keeping an eye out for any suspicious activity that night.” A comic of Kinute peeking out through her door, then looking confused as she looked out into the hallway, missing the killer’s door closing. “She didn’t see him, but she did hear his door opening and closing when he went into his room, so she assumed I had gone out at night again. That actually ends the killer’s involvement in this case.”

“The big problem we did have was with a separate, unrelated person coming in and tampering with the crime scene.” A drawing of Hideyoshi’s smiling face appeared, before transitioning into a comic of him walking through the casino, apparently whistling cheerfully. “For some reason, Hideyoshi woke up early that day, likely because he wanted to organize everyone together for another meeting, and he wound up walking into the laundry room for some reason.” I frowned, glancing at Hide’s masked face, the actor waving cheerfully at me when he noticed my gaze. 

I sighed, and looked back up at the screens, now displaying a comically surprised looking Hide, then a comic of him smiling sinisterly as he got to work on tampering with the crime scene. “There, Hide discovered Kimihito’s corpse. Instead of alerting everyone to the murder, he decided to alter the crime scene. He bought a can of paint and an extension cord from the Court of Coins and retrieved a knife from the kitchen. Once prepared, he sliced up Kimihito’s corpse while using a sheet to make it seem like the body was mutilated immediately after death, and strung it up from the ceiling fan.”

A comic appeared on screen, showing Hideyoshi as he went about his grisly work: cutting up the body, soaking the sheet in his blood, suspending him from the ceiling fan, and, finally, painting the words “NOTICE ME” across the back wall. “Once he was done, he hid the evidence in the kitchen, hoping someone would find it, and then pretended everything was fine when Fuyumi and I met up with him later in the morning.”

“Even though Hide’s actions are...horrifying, he’s not the actual killer,” I summed it up, before looking over at Vito. The racer glared back at me, visibly shaking with rage, his face twisted in a terrifying snarl of pure fury. All around us, everybody stared at Vito, their earlier confusion and apprehension melting away into certainty. Certainty that he was the true murderer.

I met his gaze evenly, and sealed his fate. “The true killer of this case, the man who murdered Kimihito Yamazaki, is Vittorio Ito, the Ultimate Racer.”

I sighed again, feeling far more tired than I should be, before looking Vito right in the eyes. “Am I correct?”

\----[Recap, End]----

“ _Fuck you_ ,” Vito hissed, his hands clenched into fists.

“Now now, no need to be rude to her,” Nobu spoke up, grinning triumphantly. “After all, you only have yourself to blame for being so sloppy and short-tempered.”

“I WILL CUT YOUR FUCKING EYES OUT!” Vito shouted, slamming a fist against the podium. “FUCK YOU! YOU ARROGANT FUCKING ASSHOLES! You think-You think I am going to-!?”

“Kinirokuma, I think we’re done here,” Nobu said, ignoring Vito in favor of staring up at the grinning bear.

“Yes, yes, I’d say you are,” Kinkuma replied, sitting up in his seat and taking a little hammer out from behind himself. Slamming the gavel on his desk, he looked down at all of us. “You may now begin voting. Select the person you believe is the culprit. Participation is mandatory, and I will call you out if you fail to vote. Remember, your lives are on the line, so vote correctly.”

Around me, I could hear several buttons being pressed. Some people voted immediately, while others took their time, clearly still not sure about...condemning Vito like this. I slowly pressed the arrows on my podium, cycling through little pixelated images of our faces, before landing on the one representing Vito. I...hesitated. At the end here, even though I knew what he did, I still wasn’t sure about doing this.

Still. I had to press it. So I did.

The screen above Kinkuma suddenly switched to the image of a slot machine. Instead of symbols like cherries or sevens, the machine displayed those same images that represented each of us. The slot machine’s lever moved on its own, and its screen span. Eventually, three images of Vito lined up, and the words “WINNER” popped up in bright, flashing rainbow letters.

And so, the first trial of the horrific competition we were all stuck in came to a close in a rain of black coins. The murderer had been discovered. Kimihito would get justice. 

_So why does this feel so horrible?_

\----[ **TRIAL END** ]----

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: And the murderer is revealed.
> 
> Indismile: he might have been a sleaze but he was fun to write. Rip vito
> 
> Yep. Execution is next chapter. So, y'know, look forward to that, I guess?
> 
> Indismile: next chapter will be shorter btw since it's mainly just wrapping up the trial
> 
> Hope to see you all then! Thanks for reading!


	8. The First Execution

**Chapter 8**

“Congratulations everyone,” Kinkuma spoke up, breaking the silence that had descended over all of us. “You have successfully discovered the blackened and officially ‘won’ your first murder trial.” He clapped his hands politely, applauding our “victory” as confetti rained down from the ceiling.

As I stared at Vito, who was gritting his teeth and shaking, a part of me wished we had been wrong about him. That this entire situation was all just a horrible dream and I'd be waking up soon. 

“Since we've finished this trial, can we go back up already?” Nobu asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Now that the trial was over, the journalist apparently completely stopped caring about what Kinkuma had planned next.

“SILENCE IN THE FUCKING COURT!” Kinkuma suddenly roared, glaring down at Nobu, who actually flinched back at the sudden blast of noise. “What, you stupid shits seriously think you can get away with disrespecting my court of law here just because the trial ended? DO YOU WANT TO BE HELD IN CONTEMPT!? Because I can totally still do that.” _W-What the hell? What’s up with this personality shift??_

The demented bear sighed, laying down across his armrests, his stubby legs propped up in the air. “Yeesh, I’m feelin’ waaaay too pent up right now. It took a whole lot of effort to keep myself calm and professional during the trial.” He suddenly perked up, grinning down at us. “But hey, least I get to release all that tension pretty soon. Oh, but first, can’t forget all the little rewards you dipshits earned. The non-blackened dipshits, not you, Ser Chucklefuck McMurderBoner von Killington, who is also Italian.”

“Rewards?” Tadashi mumbled under his breath, only to freeze up when Kinkuma turned his golden gaze on him.

“Yup! Rewards! What, you think everything just goes back to normal after the trial? No, no, no! I have to hand out a bunch of rewards and punish the dastardly villain that murdered whoever the fuck that one guy was.”

“His name is Kimihito,” Tetsu spoke up, frowning at Kinkuma’s disrespect.

“Was Kimihito. Bastard’s dead, remember?” Kinkuma chuckled to himself, before sitting up in his chair. “In fact, would you guys and gals like to see how he died? Ah, who am I kidding, of course you bloodthirsty bastards do! ROLL THE CLIP!”

Suddenly, the screens around the room switched to a video of the laundry room. A little digital clock in the bottom right-hand corner set the time as “11:08PM”, and the room was occupied by two people. Kimihito and Vito. The victim and his murderer. 

\----:----

“S-Sorry again, Vito,” Kimihito said, smiling sheepishly at Vito while taking off his jacket.

“Stop apologizing,” the racer replied, scowling as he leaned against one of the dryers. The wrench was to the left of him, lying on another dryer. “Just clean your stupid jacket already.”

“R-Right, right, sorry. It’s just, y’know, I was the one that ran into you-”

“I could not give less of a fuck,” Vito growled back, clearly agitated. “Hurry it up.” The camera zoomed in on his face as his eyes flicked towards the wrench, before panning back out as Kimihito turned away from Vito and started fiddling with the washing machine.

“Okay, okay, hurrying. Ah, but, um, didn’t Kinkuma say these would be off at night? I mean, we could just wait until morning-”

“For all we know that bastard could be lying.” Vito started tapping one finger against the dryer’s surface, his hand close to the wrench. “Don’t you want to just get this over with?”

“Y-Yeah, I suppose that’s true, and I guess I do?” Kimihito chuckled nervously as he opened up the washing machine and stuck his jacket inside. “We really don’t know if anything the bear told us is true...though I think he’s being honest about those motives.”

Vito stiffened, his hands clenching into fists. “Right. _Those_.”

“Ugh...I honestly hope that part about the criminal talents is a lie. I mean, the one that’s probably mine really isn’t that bad compared to a few of the others, but it would still cause me a lot of problems if it got out. Though I suppose you have it worse in that case.”

“What? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, I mean, yours is pretty obvious, right?” Kimihito stood back up, frowning as he started fiddling with the machine. “You’re a racer, right?”

“ _Right._ ”

Apparently oblivious to the anger in Vito’s voice, Kimihito continued. “Well, like Kinute said earlier, you drive cars all the time. So it’s pretty likely that, out of all of us here, you’re the one who has hit someone with a car, right? Especially if you’ve ever gone street racing.”

Vito tensed, now glaring furiously at the back of Kimihito’s head as the oblivious historian continued trying to get the washing machine to work.

“Which I think would make you the Ultimate Hit-and-Run.” Kimihito sighed. “Y’know, I really don’t envy you. It’d be awful for your career if something like that ever got out. I could always duck out of sight for a bit, maybe use some of my money to get a fake identity. It’s not like I haven’t done it before, it’s pretty easy...Bleh, sorry, I tend to ramble sometimes. Forget you heard that. But hey, at least you’re not Kiru, right? That malpractice one is pretty much guaranteed to be his. It’s not like the rest of us have medical experience. Unless you’re secretly a doctor?”

“I’m not.”

“Yeah, didn’t think so. Well, hm. I suppose somebody else could be the Hit-and-Run. All it really requires is that they hit someone with their car at some point and fled the scene. Hm...hey, sorry if I sound like an asshole here, but are you the cheater?”

Vito went completely still. His eyes seem to burn with a blue fire as he started shaking with pure fury. And Kimihito just kept fiddling with that stupid washing machine, even as Vito picked up the wrench and passed it to his right hand, slowly walking up behind the historian.

“I mean, I guess anybody in any sort of competitive field could be the Ultimate Cheater if they cheated or bribed their way into winning when they didn’t deserve to, but a big sporting thing like racing? Seems like it fits, y’know? Oh, hey, I think I actually got this thing wor-”

There was a sickening _crunch_ when Vito slammed the wrench down on Kimihito’s head. We could all see the spray of blood, the way he just...crumpled, his forehead bouncing off the side of the washing machine as he fell.

Kimihito twitched on the floor, his expression dazed and confused as a pool of blood spread out from underneath his head. And Vito...Vito looked stunned, blood dripping down his jumpsuit and started to pool around his feet. I don’t know if he didn’t realize what he was doing, or if he just didn’t think there would be so much blood. It didn’t really matter.

Kimihito was dead. And Vito killed him.

\----:----  
I couldn’t stop shaking as the video ended. I knew...I _knew_ what had happened, that...that Vito had killed Kimihito. But...seeing it…

I covered my mouth with my hand, pressing the other against my podium to keep myself steady. I felt like I was going to puke.

“Woooo! Did you see that?!” Kinkuma’s grating voice cut through the pit of dead silence the courtroom had fallen into. “One hit and he was out! I wonder if he died of bloodloss or if the hit did him in instantly...Oh well. Either way he's super dead! Upupupupupu!” The demented bear giggled in delight, and I felt a sudden rush of rage, gripping the sides of my podium as I glared up at the psychotic bastard above us.

“What...WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!?” I yelled, trying to force my anger through the fea making my body shiver. “ _STOP ACTING LIKE THIS IS A GAME!_ ” 

Abruptly, Kinkuma stopped laughing entirely. His golden eye seemed to gleam with malice as he stared down at me. “Oh?” His voice was cold, a sort of deathly seriousness overtaking his earlier joy. “It seems some little brat wants to put on her big girl pants now and ruin my fun...You know maybe you're right. Maybe I’m not taking this seriously enough. Maybe I should just kill you all _right now_.” 

Kinkuma’s voice had lost all its cheer, his words coming out in a frigid hiss. I could feel myself shaking as every screen in the room switched to an image of the bear’s golden eye, staring down at us with what felt like pure malicious rage. I gulped, trying to steady myself. _What the hell...Is he...he really wants us dead…_

“Kidding! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” And then that menacing atmosphere shattered, broken like a mirror by Kinkuma’s grating voice, the demented bear flopping back onto his chair and holding his stomach as he cackled maniacally. I was still tense when he finally stopped, sitting up and grinning down at us. “Ah, thanks Kitty, I haven’t laughed like that in a while!” _Great, back to nicknames._ “Now then, what’s next on our agenda?”

The bizarre bear somehow pulled a huge book out from behind his back, along with a pair of oversized reading glasses, and began reading out whatever was written on its pages in a pompous tone. “Eh heh hem! Once upon a time, there were two criminals! One was an underhanded sneak, far too clever for his own good, while the other was a brash, arrogant sleaze who lived for the adulation of others! Oh, and for the ruination of his rivals.”

Kinkuma abruptly giggled, dropping character entirely. “Ah man, I can’t do this. Why don’t we get a little audience participation going? Any of you know who I’m talking about?”

“Kimihito and Vito,” Nobu promptly answered, frowning up at Kinkuma. There was a slight waver in his voice, despite his clear attempt at keeping calm, something that seemed to irritate him. “Why are you dragging this out?”

“Because it’s more fun this way!” Kinkuma answered. “And, as a prize for your little bit of participation, I’m going to tell you idiots not one, but two fun little stories. About your poor little victim and his dastardly murderer.”

“Don’t,” Vito immediately said. The racer was visibly shaking, his teeth clenched in clear rage. “You can’t...You can’t just...I thought everything I did would...th-that’s why I…”

Completely ignoring him, Kinkuma once again cleared his throat. “First up is the gripping tale of the Ultimate Thief, Kimihito Yamazaki!” Up on the screens, a picture of Kimihito appeared, the historian grinning cheerfully on a blank background. _Is that an ID photo?_

“You see, Yamazaki had always loved history. Studying the people, the places, and, especially, the old art and jewelry,” Kinkuma continued, reading from the book again as the screens switched to drawings and photos of Kimihito talking to people at museums, reading in libraries, and examining old relics on display in cases. “He read and studied everything he could get his hands on, and wrote quite a few papers with all the research he had done for these old pieces and places and whatchamacallits. Why, he even published a whole thingy on some indigenous tribe or whatever.

“Eh, bored now.” Kinkuma shut his book and tossed it over his shoulder. “Look, point is, Yamazaki used his reputation as a prodigy in...whatever the fuck you call the field of studying history to get into secure places all over the world. Museums, archaeological digs, ancient ruins, etcetera etcetera. Bastard was so easily overlooked, people didn’t even realize he was around when he snatched relics and artifacts worth millions to billions without them ever noticing.” Up on screen, the images switched to drawings showing Kimihito looking nearly invisible as he grabbed jewels, books, clothes...even paintings, vases, and suits of armor. _How the hell did he get away with all of that?_

“Overall, a pretty petty series of crimes in the grand scheme of things, especially when compared to some of you assholes, but he did fuck over quite a few people by ripping their accomplishments away from them and selling tons of priceless artifacts to rich collectors all over the world. Even worse, I heard he might’ve plagiarized a few of those research papers of his~.” 

_Stop sounding so cheerful…_ I thought, glaring up at Kinkuma. What he was saying about Kimihito...it was probably true, but it felt like he was disrespecting Kimihito’s memory by bringing it up. _It’s not like he did anything...that bad, right? Why did he deserve winding up here? ...Why did I deserve winding up here?_

My question wasn’t going to be answered anytime soon. “Anyway, now that the boring one is out of the way, onto the truly, _truly_ fun one!” Kinkuma grinned down at Vito, who was looking paler by the second.

“This is the story of Vittorio Ito, the Ultimate Cheater!” _Wait, what?_

“WHAT!?” Vito yelled, slamming his hands against his podium as he stared incredulously up at Kinkuma.

“Puhuhuhuhu...BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Kinkuma started cackling, clutching his belly as he rocked back and forth in his chair. “THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE! AHAHAHAHAAAAA! Oh oh oh oooooh god I can’t breeaaathe!” 

The demented bear kept laughing, screaming about how he was about to die of laughter as he squirmed in his seat. “Ahahahaha! Oh god, oooh god! Ahhh, holy shit I really thought I was going to die there...” Kinkuma finally stopped after about five minutes of psychotic laughter, letting out a sigh as he sunk back in his seat. “Ah, yeah, no, no, stupid bastard isn’t the Cheater, that’s Kitten-” _What._ “-Hate to say it, but his criminal talent is probably the most obvious. Well, besides the quack surgeon over there. Y’see, Vito Ito is the Ultimate Hit-and-Run. Which, in terms of titles, was actually a less obvious choice than what I could’ve gone with. Namely, the Ultimate Street Racer. I mean, really, that would’ve given it away waaaaaaay too quickly.”

 _...Did he seriously just reveal my criminal talent?_ I thought, still stuck on that moment. It wasn’t like Vito’s talent was a huge revelation. Kinkuma noticed me staring him and turned to leer at me.

“Got something you wanna say, Kitten?”

“...”

“Heh. That’s what I thought. Anyway! Back to the story!” Kinkuma said as the screens switched to new images. One was of Vito, grinning cheerfully on a red and white speedboat with some other teenagers. He looked...genuinely happy, a sharp contrast to how desperate and angry he looked right now. The other screens showed images of race tracks with cars and motorcycles, one figure clearly ahead of the rest of the racers.

“Vittorio Ito was what smarmy people like to call a ‘driving prodigy’, a clever little brat who had a natural talent for driving all kinds of vehicles. Cars, motorcycles, even boats! Why, I even heard he might’ve been planning to get a pilot’s license to conquer the skies too! Of course, it wasn’t enough to just drive these sorts of things. What Vito truly loved, more than anything else in this world, was getting to pit his skills against others! Even if it wasn’t always legal~.”

The images switched to stylized drawings of cars racing down streets, the lead cars from the previous pictures shown driving close to its fellow racers. “Thing is, while Vito enjoyed racing other people, he really hated losing.” Suddenly, the pictures switched to images of crashed cars and burning wreckages. Cars were shown plowed into buildings or crushed to pieces at the bottom of cliffs, the mangled bodies of their racers smashed through windshields or lying broken by their cars. “So much so, he would go to extremes to make sure he won, no matter what.”

“S-So what?” Vito suddenly spoke up, pale and sweating as he glared up at Kinkuma. “They...Th-They knew what they were getting into...Crashes happen! E-Everybody knows that!” He leaned forward, clutching the sides of his podium. “You have no fucking right to bring this up! Everyone I raced against knew the _fucking_ risks!”

“Really? So Amalia and Celio knew what they were getting into?”

“What? Who?” Kinkuma’s grin seemed to widen as Vito stared up at him in confusion.

“The two little brats you flattened, remember?” _...What?_ “You didn’t even bother to learn their names?”

Vito went completely white. His eyes were wide, and he started trembling. He opened his mouth again, and no noise came out.

“Vittorio…” The racer went rigid as Tetsu spoke up. The normally calm fighter looked completely shocked, staring at Vito with pure horror. “You...You killed children?”

“Yup!” Kinkuma answered for him. “Storytime everybody! You see, a bit of time before Vito here got invited to Hope’s Peak, he was in Brazil for some big races. While there, he encountered a guy who used to hold the title Ultimate Racer, Duarte Ishikawa, a former Hope’s Peak alumni! Face to face with a legend like that, a chance to prove himself superior to a predecessor...Who could resist something like that?” The images on screen switched to a picture of Vito, in a crimson race suit, shaking hands with a tall Brazilian man in a green racing suit. Both of them were grinning cheerfully, a glint of determination in their eyes.

“So they went at it. And Vito actually didn’t try anything underhanded this time! He wanted to prove his skill, after all! Shame they decided to it with an illegal street race, but hey, they were the Ultimate Racers! What could go wrong?

“Well, what went wrong is that two kids just happened to walk out into the street as they were turning a corner. And Vito here slammed straight into them.” The screens showed a little comic of two cars, one red and one green, neck and neck as they raced through streets, panicked people shown dodging out of their way. Except for two kids, a girl and a boy, likely siblings, who didn’t notice anything as they walked into the street, the clearly older girl speaking to her little brother as they crossed. Neither of them noticed the red car until it was barrelling down on them. The last panel was completely red. 

_W-What the fuck…_ I felt my blood go cold as I stared at the screens.

“You can’t be serious…” I heard someone mumble. [HOLY FUCK DUDE.] “Those poor kids…” “Yeesh.” “Huh. So that’s what he did.” “Monstrous _bastard_...” “How the fuck did you not get caught for that?”

“Good question!” Kinkuma yelled, pointing at Kinute, who froze at the sudden attention. Vito, meanwhile, was just staring up at the screens. He looked completely stunned. And...to be honest, I felt disgusted. Was he really that thoughtless? Did he really kill people just for the sake of his ego? _Did he really kill two kids and never tried to make up for it at all?! He didn’t even know their names…_

“You see,” Kinkuma continued, uncaring of our reactions. “Thanks to a series of little fortunate coincidences, including how the bodies managed to completely clear his car, which happened to be just the right shade of red to keep any bloodstains from being noticeable, Vito made it out with nothing to point the crime towards him! Less fortunate was good old Duarte, who got a nine year old slammed into his windshield. Poor bastard flipped and smashed straight into an apartment building. So guess who took the fall while the ‘unknown other racer’ vanished completely from view?”

Kinkuma laughed to himself, his laughter dark and cruel. “Why, good old Duarte even got knocked into a coma from the crash, so he couldn’t even tell anyone whose fault it was! So many fun little coincidences, it’d almost make me think the guy’s the Ultimate Luck instead of the Ultimate Hit-and-Run. Oh, whoops, I mean Racer. Illegal Racer? Murderacer? Whatever.”

“It was an accident,” Vito muttered, still staring up at the screens, tears rolling down his face. “I-It was just an accident...I didn’t see them...Why were they even walking in the middle of the road? I just...I didn’t see them…” His voice cracked. “I didn’t.”

“Upupupupupu...Just as expected of a filthy criminal.” Kinkuma chuckled darkly. “Trying to justify it to yourself instead of fessing up to your crimes. You could’ve told someone, couldn’t you? You could have done anything, anything at all to try to make it right. So why didn’t you?”

“I...I would’ve been ruined...I...There’s no way I…”

“Hmph. Thoughtless.” Kinkuma sighed, propping his head up on a hand. “Feel free to talk to him, ya little bastards. I’m curious what you have to say.”

Vito stared at each of us, gulping, his face still pale. “I...I didn’t mean to...I didn’t.”

“I’m sure you didn’t,” Nobu spoke up, looking unimpressed. “But, much like with Kimihito, it doesn’t change the fact that you decided to. In the end, you have no one to blame but yourself.”

“I don’t know about that,” Beatrice muttered, frowning at Nobu when he glanced at her. “For the racing...yeah, that’s definitely his own fault. Honestly, if this was a different situation...I’d probably say he does deserve to go to jail for everything he did. Maybe for life. But don’t forget where we are. I doubt he would’ve killed Kimihito if Kinkuma hadn’t forced him into it.”

“Can you be certain?” Tetsu spoke up, scowling deeply. _I’ve never seen him so angry…_ “That lack of thought...I could accept it, maybe, if he had tried to make any sort of amends. But he didn’t. So I cannot see this as anything less than what he deserves.”

“Now that’s a little cruel,” Hideyoshi said, clearly angry. “Sure, he’s done horrible things, but who here hasn’t? In fact, your reaction is rather interesting, Mr. Killer. Now, it _could_ be chalked up to a hatred of seeing children harmed, but that’s a bit too simple and quite a bit too boring. So, question is, did _you_ ever kill any kids?”

“ _Take that back._ ”

“Okay, okay, this clearly isn’t a productive line of thought,” Tadashi interrupted, glancing between Tetsu and the others. “Let’s...Those of us who want to say goodbye, do so. I’d rather just put this all behind us.”

“Hmph. You may do whatever you wish,” Hideyoshi replied, crossing his arms over his chest, before looking over at Vito. Even though he was wearing a mask, it was pretty easy to see the sorrow in his eyes. “...I will miss you, Vittorio. I know you were upset with me, but I did...I do consider you a friend of mine. I hope the next world treats you well.”

“H...Hide?” Vito stared at him, a whirl of emotions in his eyes. “...I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything...I’m...I’m so sorry…”

“Apology accepted.”

The rest of us just kind of stayed silent. I could see Miyabi and Kiru looking uncomfortable. Chinatsu seemed resigned. Nina blatantly didn’t care. Kimiko was biting her lip, clearly not sure what to say. Akiba was frowning at Vito, but didn’t say anything. Kinute was deliberately looking away from him. Tadashi was staring down at his podium. Fuyumi let out a little sigh, but stayed silent. Nobu was writing again, Tetsu looked angry, and Beatrice seemed upset at the situation. I...I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what to feel. 

_What does someone say when a cult leader and a murderer say their heartfelt goodbyes?_

“Yeesh, this got sappy,” Kinkuma said, hopping off of his chair and onto the floor. “Well, I suppose that’s the end of this? No final words?”

“Fuck you,” was Vito’s immediate answer, breaking his gaze with Hide and glaring down at the bear, his fears and misery vanishing in a sudden flash of rage. “Fuck you fuck you FUCK YOU! YOU SHITTY FUCKING BASTARD!”

“Wow. Greeeeaaaat last words. Welp, uh, what’s the line? Something something something, give it everything we got? Bleh. Yeesh, you downers really brought down the fucking mood. I swear, you killed my justice boner completely.”

“Justice? _Justice?! YOU CALL THIS FUCKING JUSTICE?!_ ” Vito clenched his hands into fists, and then suddenly jumped down from his podium and ran at Kinkuma, tackling the shocked bear to the floor. “I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU-Grk!”

As he was about to slam his fist into Kinkuma’s golden eye, a metal collar attached to a chain clamped around his neck and yanked him back off the bear, dragging him off as a panel in the wall suddenly opened up, the shadows within swallowing up the racer as his enraged screams faded away.

“Y-Yeesh...that was...actually kinda scary,” Kinkuma muttered, sitting up and rubbing his throat. He then seemed to remember we were still here, glancing over at us and twitching oddly. His grin seemed a bit more strained than usual. “R-Right. Ah, shit, um...what’s the line?”

Suddenly, he flipped up, landing on his feet and spreading his stubby arms wide as the screens switched to a completely new scene. “Oh yeah, that was it! IT’S PUNISHMENT TIME!”

\----:)---- 

♠ **RACE TO THE FINISH** ♠

Up on the screens, we could see a bird’s eye view of what looked like a large oval racing track. In contrast to the ostentatiousness of the casino, the track looked almost dilapidated. Parts of the completely vacant stands were missing, and paint was peeling off the walls around the track. It was clearly outside, but...for some reason the sky was red.

Our view suddenly panned down to a lone figure on the track, sitting on a bright red motorcycle and wearing a familiar white and blue jumpsuit. A black and white motorcycle helmet with a red lense, split down the middle so one half was white and the other was black, covered his features, but it was obvious who it was.

Vito was looking around in clear confusion, his hands cuffed to the handles of his bike, essentially forcing him to keep hunched over. Clamps on the side of the bike held his legs in place as he struggled to get off the bike, and a large screen abruptly rose up from the ground on the side of the track. Vito stared at it in clear confusion as a huge “5” appeared on screen and started counting down, bizarre music playing in the background. Once it hit zero, the motorcycle suddenly started, sending him rocketing forward, one wheel up in the air.

Vito visibly struggled to get control of the bike, but seemed to get it under control just as he neared the corners. Rapidly speeding around the track, Vito had to twist and turn to keep the motorcycle from flying off it, the bike seeming to pick up speed with every second as obstacles started to appear around the course.

Darting around rising walls and spears, along with spreading pools of oil slick and actual buzz saws erupting from the ground, Vito actually seemed to be...doing well somehow. His talent at racing was on full display as he sped around the track, dodging every obstacle that was put in his way. His shoulders seemed to be shaking with silent laughter as he narrowly escaped death at every turn. He was...enjoying it, the screen counting up the laps he made.

Suddenly, the screen switched to the words “Final Lap”, and a part of the track abruptly rose up, revealing a huge ring of fire with a ramp in front of it. Further down the track, Kinkuma appeared at the finish line, eagerly waving a checkered flag. The music picked up, getting more and more intense as exhilarated laughter suddenly started echoing out from the speakers. Vito went up on one wheel again as his motorcycle roared up the ramp, fireworks going off as he cleared the ring of fire.

Immediately, the oil slick on the track caught fire, a massive inferno raging around Vito as he raced down the track, mad laughter echoing out with the music as he sped closer and closer to the finish line, when a post suddenly popped up on the track, a long, sharp blade jutting out from its side, out of Vito’s line of sight. When the racer swerved to dodge the post, the blade suddenly swung out.

It caught him right under his ribs. The music cut out entirely as Vito was split in half, his arms, severed at the elbows, flying free from the bike as it suddenly crashed down onto its side, scraping his legs against the rough ground before it smashed into the side wall, erupting in a ball of fire. His top half flew down the track and smashed roughly against the ground, bouncing and tumbling as the sound of snapping bones echoed out.

Finally, Vito’s broken and twisted body rolled to a stop just in front of the finish line, his head snapped around to stare up at crimson sky, the helmet’s visor smashed to pieces. I was glad the shadows of his helmet covered his eyes as blood spread out from his ruined corpse. I didn’t want to see what he looked like in his final moments.

As a final insult, the burning wheel from his wrecked bike rolled across the finish line, prompting Kinkuma to wave the flag like it had just won the race. Suddenly, a little graphic of the burning wheel appeared on screen on top of a first place stand, a little trophy next to it and the words “WINNER!” scrawled out above it in bright gold as cheerful music played.

\----:D----

 _Wha-...W-What the hell was that…?_ I stared vacantly up at the screen, Vito’s brutal death burned into my mind. I felt...numb and weak and...and I had to grab the sides of my podium to keep from falling over as my legs completely gave out. I leaned against it, staring down at the wood, trying to keep breathing and breathing and not thinking about-

I had to cover my mouth again, to keep from throwing up. I was doing that a lot lately.

“Holy shit…” I heard someone mutter. That broke the cold silence the courtroom had fallen into and a cacophony of voices echoed out.

“Did that really just happen!?” “So this is what he meant by punishment...” [JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!] “Hm…” “Sh-Shit, that...that was...what the fuck?!” “Daaaaaamn…” “Vito…”

“Wow, wow, wow! That went fantastic!” Kinkuma cheered happily, applauding his own performance. I blinked, picking myself up slightly to stare at the demented bear. Who was here. Even though he was on the screen a second ago. _Wait, how was he...When did...What?_ “Maaaaan, for a first murderer, we certainly got a good one! One of the fancier executions I came up with, if I do say so myself.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Beatrice spoke up, glaring at Kinkuma. “You just murdered-”

“Executed!” Kinkuma corrected. “When a criminal is killed by an authority for their crimes against society, then it is an execution, not a murder. For example, Vittorio Ito _murdered_ Kimihito Yamazaki, so Game Master Kinkuma _executed_ Vittorio. See? One often follows the other.”

“Are we done here?” Nobu inquired, staring at his notepad as he wrote something down. _Does...Does he even care? Does he ever care?_

“Sure, sure, whatever. Oh, though a couple things before I go. Firstly, you guys should enjoy yourselves today! You just made it through your first class trial, and, as such, have earned one more little reward!”

“Another reward?” Nina asked, looking curiously at Kinkuma. Not affected at all by the murd-...the execution we just saw. _What’s wrong with that girl?_

“Yup! Though that’ll be coming tomorrow, so no killing anybody tonight! It wouldn’t even help you in the slightest, since the first motive is over. Which, by the way, means you dolts get to keep your criminal talents a secret! Well, except for the obvious ones and the ones I revealed.” _Like mine. Bastard._

“Anyway,” Kinkuma continued, “I think that should count as the second thing, so here’s the third one! Namely, a punishment.” _What._

“Punishment? For what?” Miyabi asked. She was pale and shaking slightly, her eyes flicking up towards the screen with clear fear. “I-I thought we did what you said...We...o-oh god…”

“Hmph. You did, you did, up until Vito tried to break my face. So no, fuck you, I’m annoyed. Which means every single one of you is now and forever banned from the trash disposal room. Which, for the slower of you, means no more using the trash chutes or incinerator.”

_...That’s it? ...There has to be something more than that._

But no. The demented bear just clapped his hands together, another rope dropping from the ceiling. “Alright, that’s all for now! Take the elevator to head back up, and don’t try looking around the courtroom. It’s a sealed off room, so you’re not going to find anything cool down here. Plus, I’ll find you in contempt of court if you start messing with my stuff.

“Anyway, auf wiedersehen! See you all above!” And with that, Kinkuma grabbed the rope and was yanked up into the ceiling again, disappearing into a panel above him.

“Hm. Well, I suppose that’s all,” Nobu noted, stepping off of his podium and glancing at all of us. “Shall we head up?”

 _Are you kidding me? Just...We can’t be moving this quickly, can we? We just...We saw Vito get executed in front of us. We can’t just act like nothing happened...We can’t just keep...going, right?_ But people were already starting to move. Kinute stepped off her podium next, hunched down and heading straight for the elevator, scowling all the while. Everyone else...they were just kind of looking uneasy. It felt like there had to be something _more_ about to happen, but nothing was happening.

Akiba was next, shrugging and stepping off his podium. He glanced back at us, about to head towards the elevator, then frowned when he saw Hideyoshi. 

The actor was just staring up at the screens, completely silent. _Ah...I wonder what he’s feeling right now. He just saw his friend die. Or will that even matter to him? Is he just going-_ ”Gk…” _Eh?_

“...” As Hide kept staring up at the screens, his shoulders started to shake. _Is...Is he sniffling?_

“Ghh...UWAAAAAAAAAAAH!” he suddenly wailed, throwing his head back and sobbing loudly. “VIIIITOOOOOOOOOO!” _W-What? Um...What am I supposed to do in this situation…?_

I...just kind of stared at Hide as he cried, tears dripping out from under his mask. It...was honestly really uncomfortable, watching him sobbing right in front of everybody. I certainly wasn’t alone in that discomfort, considering how everyone else seemed to just be kind of staring uneasily at him. Everybody except for Kimiko, who stepped down from her podium, walked over to him, and promptly hugged Hideyoshi.

“It’ll be okay,” Kimiko murmured, pressing her head against his chest. The actor sniffled loudly, his arms hanging limply at his sides. 

“I-I’m...I-I’m okay,” he tried to reply, stuttering noticeably as tears started spilling down the cheeks of his mask. “I-I-I c-can...I’m...J-Just, g-give me a m-m-moment, okay?”

“Kay,” Kimiko promptly replied, pulling back and staring up at Hide, her brow furrowed in worry. “Just tell me if you need anything, okay?”

“O-Okay,” he replied, then took off his mask, his eyes red and puffy, and took a pink handkerchief out of his jacket. 

Hide still sniffled a bit as he wiped the tears from his face, before grinning weakly at Kimiko. She smiled back. “Th-Thank you.” He let out a sigh, then straightened up and looked around at each of us. “Right, my apologies everyone. I...It appears that my emotions got the better of me. Much like they did earlier.”

He abruptly turned towards Tetsu and bowed deeply, his arms straight at his sides. “I apologize for my remarks earlier. They were out of line. I was angry and upset, but that is no excuse. The fault here lies entirely with me.”

“Hm. I’m surprised a man who calls himself a god would willingly display humility,” Tetsu said, still frowning at Hide.

“Heh. It’s more that my pride demands I apologize than any humility on my part,” Hide replied, still bowing.

Tetsu snorted, then smiled. “Very well then. Apology accepted.”

“Good!” Hide immediately straightened up, clapping his hands together and grinning widely in spite of his earlier sadness. His eyes still seemed pretty red, and his smile looked like it was going to drop any second. “If that’s all, I suppose we should all be heading up now, right?”

“Er, a-are you sure you’re alright?” Miyabi asked, clearly concerned and still visibly pale from earlier. 

Hide’s grin faltered slightly, but he kept smiling. “Yes, yes, I’ll be fine. I just...needed to get that out. Come along now everybody, we wouldn’t want Kinkuma to get angry now!” With that said, Hide promptly turned and headed over to the elevator, brushing past Kinute and Nobu to head right inside, before turning again and grinning expectantly at the rest of us.

I suppose Hide’s clear desire to leave was what finally spurred us all into finally heading towards the elevator. As we walked, I could hear Tadashi ask Kimiko if she was alright, some noticeable concern in his voice.

“Yeah, ‘m fine,” she replied. “Not like he was gonna hurt me. Actually, would it be okay if we spent some time with Hide? I think he might need somebody around him for a bit.”

“Are you sure? He looks fine to me-”

“Dashi, he just lost his friend. C’mon, it won’t hurt. ‘Sides, you’ll be there to keep me safe, yeah?”

“...Yes, I suppose.” Tadashi sighed and followed Kimiko into the elevator, glancing suspiciously at Hideyoshi as he did so. _I guess he’s not as willing to drop the whole “corpse mutilating” thing. Smart guy._

“You doing okay, Atsuko?” Beatrice suddenly asked as she walked up from behind me, causing me to jump slightly.

“Er, yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Completely...fine.” She didn’t look like she believed me. “...Let’s just get back up top, okay? We can talk then.”

“Alright. Hm. Maybe Fuyumi can come along too?”

“Eh?” _Oh, yeah, right._ I glanced around, then noticed Fuyumi was already in the elevator. She gave me a little wave when she noticed me looking, clearly waiting for the two of us to hurry up. “Sure, sure. We can just...sit and talk, I guess.”

“Yep. So let’s get going,” Beatrice said, taking my hand again and leading me to the elevator.

And that was it. The end of our first trial. We just...went back up, back to the main floor of the casino, the elevator slowly rumbling as it took us out of the courtroom. All of us, packed together in this ridiculously gaudy elevator...everybody except for Vito. Who we had condemned to death.

…

At that moment, I sincerely hoped that would be the last time we would ever participate in a class trial.

\----♠----

 **Kinirokuma Theater:** ♠

_Kinkuma sits on a stage, wearing a black top hat, one spotlight illuminating him as he stares out into an empty audience. Behind him, a large set of golden scales rest on the stage, an obsidian spade set on top of it._

“Black queen, black queen, sing me a song! Tell me the story of a kingdom long gone! Your people are starving, famine abounds! Yet you have the loveliest parties of any around! Black queen, black queen, it’s time for a feast! The poor king is dead, slain by a vile beast! The kingdom is dying, so let’s party and sing! A lovely song of mourning for our dear lost king!”

_Kinkuma abruptly stands up, the scale behind him lighting up, its spade glowing a brilliant gold._

“This is the end, my friends! The end of the beginning, yet the beginning never ends! So let’s drink, dance and play and forget our starvation for one glorious day! Who knows when we ever will again?”

_He giggles, before cackling loudly as the curtains drop._

**END OF ACT 1**  
♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠♠

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So there we have it, the end of Act 1. Vito and Kimihito are dead, and yet the game continues. Who could be next on the chopping block?
> 
> Anyway, hope you all are enjoying the story so far. See ya next time.


	9. Fanart! :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey, sorry everybody for how late we've been with putting out a new chapter. Stuff happened and chapter 9 really did not feel like getting written. We should be able to post it tomorrow, hopefully, but before then we figured it might be nice to post a chapter featuring the cool art our friends have made for this fic.
> 
> Indismile: just a small side note here, if anyone has any questions about the characters themselves feel free to ask, we shall do our best to answer them, provided it doesn't relate to events that have yet to happen in the story.
> 
> That means no asking about the criminal talents that haven't been revealed yet. You can guess, but we won't tell you.
> 
> Indismile: however it does mean you can ask about stuff like, favorite foods, if they like certain things and such, even sexual orientation if you want to know that for some reason
> 
> Anyway, thank you very much for being so patient. Hopefully we won't be so late with this again.

So first up is my friend Riley's version of Kimihito, the most generic guy.

Next is my other friend Van's version of Atsuko.

And then here's a bunch of pictures that my friend Avery did that are super cool.

First up is their version of all the characters, plus an updated one with all their names (and after they learned that Kinute's a jerk).

Then one of Beatrice showing off her magic.

And here's a cool one of Hideyoshi's grand reveal in the courtroom.

And finally one of Atsuko and Vito's confrontation at the end of the trial.

And that's all for now! Thank you all for reading again, and we should have the next chapter up soon. Thanks again for being so patient.

Edit: Welp. Some of the pictures turned out huge. ...Dangit. If anybody knows how to fix that, help would be appreciated.


	10. Scary People

**Chapter 9**

We spent the elevator ride back up to the main casino floor in silence. I guess none of us were really willing to talk about what just happened. What we’d done. 

Once the elevator stopped back in the main area, we all exited it, some quicker than others. When we were all out, the elevator sunk back down, and the golden head lowered back onto the floor, sealing off the courtroom once more. 

Silence reigned over the casino as I stared at the golden Kinkuma head. I don’t know why, but...at that moment, I really just couldn’t help but stare. Stare at that demented bear’s twisted visage. At the symbol of the bastard that trapped us all here. 

I couldn’t keep up my impromptu staring contest with the statue forever. Some of the others were already heading off on their own. Nobu was the first to leave, of course. He immediately headed straight for the lounge without a word, probably heading to his room. It took about a second for Kinute to walk off too, grumbling something under her breath. A few seconds later, Miyabi followed her, still looking pretty pale, a little frown on her lips.

[WELL, I’M HUNGRY. WHO WANTS TO JOIN ME FOR LUNCH?] Akiba suddenly spoke up, looking curiously at us. _Lunch? Wait, what time is it?_

“Hm. I suppose it is around noon,” Tadashi mused. “Sitting down for lunch would be nice…”

“How about it, Hide? Wanna get food?” Kimiko glanced up at Hideyoshi, who shrugged and grinned back at her.

“Sure, sounds lovely. All of that trial drama does work up an appetite after all. And, uh, can Kiru join us? I fear I haven’t been as good a friend to him lately as I should be and I would like to rectify that.”

“Yeah, alright. Kiru?”

“Er, okay?” Kiru looked as confused as I felt. “Um, what are we having?” _Why is everybody suddenly so calm? We just...We watched Vito die. Hell, we saw how Kimihito was killed. Why are they acting like nothing happened?_

“Oh, I could make lunch if you all want,” Nina offered, grinning as cheerfully as always. “A nice meal is always good after a trying ordeal after all. And we have less people to feed now, so I may be able to make a few extra things.” _...Nina, tact. Learn it._

I could see Hide go rigid at Nina’s little comment, his grin twitching as he stared at her. Nina didn’t seem to notice though, instead smiling up at Chinatsu.

“Would you like to help me again, Natsu?” she asked, either missing or ignoring how Chinatsu glanced at Hide, an odd look in her eyes.

“Uh...maybe some other time. I feel like it might be better if I stayed and talked to everyone.” Chinatsu glanced down at Nina, a little smile on her lips. “Besides, I’m sure you’ll make something amazing on your own.”

“Aw, thank you!” Nina grinned cheerfully, before turning to the rest of us and giving us a thumbs up. “All right! I shall be preparing a meal for everyone, so please, speak with me if you have any dietary restrictions!”

[OOO, NICE, NINA’S COOKING AGAIN. THIS SHOULD BE NICE!] Akiba grinned cheerfully as Nina headed off towards the kitchens, a noticeable spring in the hunter’s steps. The tall technician followed after her a second later, one hand in his pocket while the other fiddled with one of his many devices.

“I feel like she should have asked about our diets on the first day here,” Tadashi muttered, looking somewhat put out. _I feel like everyone here has really skewed priorities._

“Well, least she asked now, yeah?” Kimiko noted, before glancing up at Hide again. “You okay? I don’t think Nina meant to upset you.” _Of course. Nobody ever intends to be hurtful, it just “happens”._

“I’m...I’m sure she didn’t,” Hide agreed, letting out a sigh. “The girl has far too much joy in her heart...It crowds out the potential for empathy.”

“That’s an interesting idea you have there,” Tetsu spoke up, glancing at Hide. “So you think people need to experience sadness of their own in order to understand another’s?”

“How could they otherwise? They’d have no point of reference.” Hide chuckled, sounding far too cheerful for a guy who just watched his friend be bisected, before clapping his hands together. “Right then! Shall we be off?”

“Sure!” “Might as well.” “Uh...I guess?” And so Hide was off, with Kimiko, Tadashi, and Kiru in tow, the four of them heading towards the dining hall without a care in the world.

“Huh. They certainly move fast,” Beatrice muttered beside me, frowning slightly.

“Sometimes that’s how life is,” Fuyumi spoke up, shrugging as she turned to us. “And is it really out of character for our little group?”

“I guess not. We do have a knack for ignoring things we don’t like dealing with.” Beatrice sighed, before trying to grin at me. The dull look in her eyes gave away just how emotionally exhausted she was though. “Kinda reminds me of how you just wandered around our third day here. Did you even do anything?”

“Does it matter?” I snapped, suddenly feeling irritated. _We just saw two of our friends die and nobody seems to give a shit. Am I the only normal person here?!_

Beatrice blinked at that, frowning worriedly as she stepped in front of me, staring deep in my eyes. 

“Atsuko, are you okay?” she asked, clearly concerned. Which...did feel kind of good. “Ah, right, the trial...do you want to talk about it?” _...Not particularly, actually. ...Does that make me a bad person too?_

“Maybe she should sit down?” Fuyumi suggested, also looking worried-

“Is everything alright?” 

-Only to go stiff when Chinatsu spoke up, the tall girl raising an eyebrow as she looked at me.

“It’s fine,” Fuyumi muttered, her tone going cold. Like back in the courtroom. Chinatsu narrowed her eyes at her response, stepping up closer to us. _I keep forgetting how freaking tall she is._

“Are you sure?” she asked, her voice sounding out like the rumble of a stormcloud. “You seemed worried a second ago, Raito.”

“Yes, worried for _my friend_ , Nikuya. This situation does _not_ involve you.”

“I was just worried because I saw someone in distress, something I’m sure you’re _very_ familiar with.”

“Uh, wait, what’s going on-” “And what is _that_ supposed to mean?” Fuyumi spoke over me, turning around and glaring up at Chinatsu.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about, Raito. So why don’t you watch your tone-”

“Is that a threat?”

I blinked, my irritation fading into confusion as I glanced between Chinatsu and Fuyumi. Both of them seemed to be getting increasingly angry over...something I didn’t have any context for. I was about to speak up when Beatrice suddenly motioned for me to be quiet, a curious look on her face as she watched the tension grow between the two girls.

“And what am I supposed to be threatening you with?”

“Things that are in the past and _should stay there_.”

“Please. I’m not enough of an asshole to use a person’s secrets against them-”

“When have I ever used someone’s secrets against them?! I don’t betray people like that!”

“No, you don’t. I’d actually say that blind loyalty of yours is your one redeeming trait. Shame it means you’ll crush anyone in your way when it comes to protecting the people that _hold your leash!_ ”

“ _Are you seriously_ -” 

“Ahem.” Fuyumi and Chinatsu suddenly turned to glare at Tetsu, who met their furious gazes evenly with an oddly serene sense of calm. _Huh. Like two stormclouds facing a clear blue sky…_

“It is plain to me that the two of you hold much animosity towards each other,” he said, a faint smile showing through his beard. “However, I believe it is distracting you from your initial concerns. Were you not both worried for Ms. Oko’s wellbeing a second ago?”

Chinatsu and Fuyumi glanced at each other, before looking at me. Chinatsu let out a little sigh while Fuyumi huffed in annoyance, apparently unwilling to concede the argument.

“Sorry about that, Atsuko,” Chinatsu apologized, rubbing the back of her head. “I, uh...I'll talk with you later, kay?” She turned away from us and headed towards the lounge without waiting for my response.

“Hmph. Typical,” Fuyumi muttered, glaring at Chinatsu as she left. “Fucking Tanji…”

“It’s better to avoid holding grudges, Ms. Raito,” Tetsu spoke up again, looking at Fuyumi with a kind of sad little smile. “Life is too short to waste on hatred.”

“Yes, thank you for the inspiring advice that I’ve never ever heard before, oh wise monk,” Fuyumi replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm before she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Right, sorry about that...Nikuya irritates me for a great many reasons. Can we just forget about it for now? Please?”

“Uh-” “Sure, it’s fine,” Beatrice replied, taking my hand again. _Why does everyone keep interrupting me?_ “We should be getting to the dining hall anyway, right?”

“...Sure, I guess,” I said, honestly not sure what was going on anymore. _Right, I was going to ask Fuyumi about her...thing with Chinatsu. ...I can do that later._

I just kind of let Beatrice lead me to the dining hall after that. Fuyumi and Tetsu followed behind us as we entered the dining hall and sat down at the nearest table, though Tetsu split off from us at that point, instead heading over to where Chinatsu was sitting. Beatrice took a seat on one side of me, Fuyumi on the other, and, despite clearly trying to look calm, Fuyumi still seemed really tense, her eyes glancing over at Chinatsu every so often.

Everything felt sort of hazy. I don’t know. The others were talking and doing stuff and I was just sitting there because Beatrice and Fuyumi wanted me to and why not? I didn’t have anything to do, anything I could do. I just had to wait for lunch. I just had to wait...

\----:----

Lunchtime came and went. Nina, wearing a pink apron over her suit, provided the food: these weird sausage patties called “black pudding” and some veggie rolls. The hunter easily balanced a bunch of plates on her arms as she walked around the room and passed them out with her usual cheerful grin. I swear, she had a skip in her step as she headed back to the kitchen.

I stayed quiet during the meal, just kind of focusing on eating. Beatrice tried to talk to me a couple times, and I did mutter some stuff in reply, but I didn’t really think about my responses. I don’t know. I guess I just wasn’t feeling up to doing anything at that moment. I probably upset her, at least a little, but she didn’t show it, just asking me a few questions about how I was doing and talking about the things she read in her new book. It was nice to hear she still liked it.

Fuyumi didn’t say much either, though she was actually doing something. I could see how she kept looking at people, her brow furrowed in concentration as she studied everyone in the room. The look in her eyes reminded me of when she was in the courtroom. It was kind of interesting to see, if intimidating, especially since she kept glaring when her eyes drifted towards Chinatsu.

“Excuse me?” I blinked, jolted out of my thoughts by Miyabi’s voice. I glanced up at her, the tall girl standing across from us with...Kinute? _Eh?_

Kinute was standing right by Miyabi, her usual scowl missing in favor of a more awkward looking grimace as she idly rubbed her arm, clearly trying to avoid looking at me.

“Uh...hi?” I greeted her, frowning in confusion. _Oh, right, she left earlier. Huh._ “What’s up?”

Miyabi simply smiled and put her hand on Kinute’s back, pushing the surly girl forward slightly. The masseuse growled under her breath, before clearing her throat, still not looking at me.

“...”

“...”

“...” _I don’t know what’s going on here._

Miyabi sighed. “Kinute, don’t you have something you want to say?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Kinute.”

“I don’t want to say it, you’re making me,” she grumbled, shoving her hands in her coat pockets before finally glancing down at me. “...Thanks.”

“Uh...for what?” I asked, still incredibly confused. Apparently that was the wrong thing to say since Kinute just started glaring at me, while Beatrice let out a little sigh by my side.

“Sorry about her, she can be kind of oblivious,” Beatrice apologized, grinning up at Kinute and Miyabi. _Wait, me? How am I being oblivious?_

“Heh, not to worry,” Miyabi replied, smiling down at me. Which certainly didn’t get my heart to start beating faster, no not at all. “Kinute’s here to thank you for defending her in the courtroom. And to apologize for accusing you in the first place. Isn’t she?” 

Kinute huffed in annoyance, crossing her arms over her chest and scowling again. She glared at me, before sighing. “Look, I’m just here so Shitateya gets off my case, okay?”

“Kinute.”

“Aaaaaaaaagh...Fine _mom_ , I’ll say sorry already,” Kinute drawled, her voice dripping with irritation and sarcasm. She sat down across from me, tapping her fingers against the table as she stared me in the eyes. “I’m sorry for accusing you of murder, and thank you for actually bothering to defend me from the fucking bullshit accusations your bitchy friend leveled at me.”

“Oh, so you’re not the torturer then?” Fuyumi suddenly spoke up, turning her annoyed gaze on the masseuse, who immediately snarled at her. “I suppose that’s my mistake then. Though I’m fairly certain the necrophilia thing is still-”

“Raito,” Miyabi interrupted, frowning at Fuyumi, who met her gaze evenly with that same cold determination from earlier. Miyabi didn’t seem affected though, clearly annoyed instead of intimidated. “I realize you were acting on behalf of your friend during the trial, and I understand why you’re acting hostile towards Kinute, but she is trying to make amends-”

“She’s only doing that because you-”

“ _Quiet._ ” Fuyumi stiffened as the sudden authoritative tone Miyabi spoke in, the seamstress staring down at her like she was an irritating bug. “Never interrupt me again. Am I understood?”

“...” Fuyumi frowned glaring up at Miyabi. The two of them stared at each other silently, before Fuyumi finally looked away, propping her head up on a hand as she went back to studying the others. Hideyoshi seemed to be in the middle of regaling Kimiko and Kiru with some story or something, making grand, sweeping gestures with his hands. _Guess he’s feeling better. Well, that’s good at least-Wait, where’d Tadashi go?_

“Hey!” Kinute abruptly snapped, drawing my attention back to her. “Look, I’m just here to say sorry, alright?”

“Oh, uh...thank you?” I quite intelligently replied, still extremely confused and not getting any better in the slightest.

“Wh-You don’t say ‘thank you’ when someone apologizes,” Kinute said, frowning at me.

“Er, sorry?”

“Okay, no, don’t fucking say sorry to me, I’m the one apologizing to you!”

“Right, um...thanks?”

“ARE YOU DOING THAT ON PURPOSE!?” Kinute yelled, slamming her hands on the table as she stood up. Only to then realize that the room had gone quiet and everyone was staring at her. “THE FUCK ARE YOU LOOKING AT?!”

“A loudmouthed idiot making an ass of herself,” Nobu stated as he entered the dining hall with Tadashi, looking as irritated as ever. Kinute immediately whirled on Nobu at that, snarling angrily, only for Miyabi to grab her arm and hold her back.

“Calm down,” she ordered, moving her hand up to Kinute’s shoulder and keeping her in place. Kinute huffed angrily in response, gritting her teeth as she pulled out of Miyabi’s grasp and sat back down. At least she was glaring at Nobu now instead of at me.

Nobu, meanwhile, completely ignored Kinute’s blatant anger, taking a seat at the table across from ours, across from where Akiba was sitting, the technician glancing up from his meal with a bemused look on his face. Nobu ignored him too and turned his chair around to face Tadashi, taking a notebook out of his bag and looking expectantly up at him. “So?”

“So?” Tadashi repeated, raising an eyebrow at Nobu, who promptly rolled his eyes.

“So what was so very important that you felt the need to drag me here in front of everyone in order to tell me?” Nobu frowned, glancing over at Hideyoshi. “I sincerely hope you’re not taking on a certain someone’s penchant for dramatics.” _Hypocrisy isn’t a good look for you, Nobu._

“There’s no need for that,” Tadashi muttered, before sighing. “Right, well, we can’t exactly get started yet, since we’re still missing one-”

As if on cue, Nina exited the kitchen once again, four plates balanced on her arms. One she laid down in front of Kinute, another she handed to a bemused Miyabi, one more was set down by Nobu, and the last went to her as she sat next to the journalist, eagerly digging in before gesturing at Tadashi to continue.

“Oh, there you are,” he noted after a brief pause, shrugging as he turned to us. “Right, well, my apologies to Nobu for bringing him under false pretences-”

That was apparently the wrong thing to say, since Nobu immediately closed his notebook with an audible snap and stood up, only to pause when Nina abruptly grabbed his wrist.

“What-” “Sit.” Nina interrupted him, swallowing the food in her mouth and smiling as cheerfully as ever. Her tone was light, but she clearly expected him to obey. And obey he did, though with some grumbling as he tugged his hand out of her grasp. Nina didn’t seem to mind though, going right back to her meal.

“Well, since everyone seems to want me to be here,” Nobu muttered, staring up at Tadashi with visible annoyance, “Can we please just get on with whatever this is supposed to be?”

“Indeed we can!”

“Oh goddammit,” Nobu grumbled as Hideyoshi spoke up, the actor climbing up on his own table before clapping his hands together, drawing everyone's’ attention to him.

“You see, Mr. Konto the journalist,” Hide continued, walking slowly across the length of the table, taking care to avoid stepping on Kiru and Kimiko’s plates. “I believe that we, as a group that has gone through quite the ordeal earlier today, should take steps to avoid, shall we say, a repeat performance of said unfortunate circumstances.”

“In layman’s terms?” Kinute drawled, looking unimpressed as she glanced over at him.

“We should probably discuss what we’re going to do next in order to prevent another murder from occurring,” Hide explained, grinning cheerfully back at the irritated masseuse.

[OH, YOU’RE STILL IN CHARGE OF GROUPS AND STUFF?] Akiba asked, still eating as he raised an eyebrow at Hideyoshi.

“Should I not be?” _I can think of a few reasons why you shouldn’t be in charge of anything. One of them was hanging in the laundry room earlier._

“Well, you did admit to mutilating Kimihito’s body,” Beatrice brought up what we were all thinking. “Plus, your talent is the Ultimate Cult Leader, right? So it’s probably not the best idea to trust what you say.”

“Hm, fair points. On the other hand, my past as a community leader does give me experience in terms of leadership ability.” _‘Community leader’? Is that what they call it now?_

[SOUNDS GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME.] Akiba stated, shrugging. [JUST DON’T GO CUTTING UP BODIES AGAIN, KAY?]

“Okay!” Hideyoshi promptly agreed, crossing his finger over his heart. “I swear upon my own soul to never mutilate another corpse again.”

“You didn’t say anything about mutilating a living person,” Fuyumi immediately noted, frowning at Hide.

“True, but I haven’t-...Well, I haven’t mutilated another person since being locked in here, just a corpse. So there’s really no reason to suspect I’d do that,” he offered as rebuttal. _That is a terrible argument._ “Anyway, that does actually bring me to the first topic I wish to bring up with you all. Namely, what should be done with me?”

_Eh?_

“Er, what? What do you mean?” Miyabi asked, setting her plate down on the table as she voiced everyone’s thoughts. _Oh hey, for once it wasn’t Tadashi who spoke up._

“Exactly as I’ve said,” Hide replied, clasping his hands behind his back as he grinned down at us. “While I do still stand by my previous decisions regarding Kimihito’s cadaver and fully believe that my actions were beneficial to our fallen compatriot, I do realize that I have created an uneasy atmosphere amongst our group here, and my actions could be viewed negatively due to how they interfered with the investigation process. As such, I am obliged to pay recompense for the distress I have caused.” His smile deepened to a smirk as he took his mask out of his jacket again and pressed it against his chest, his hand over his heart. “After all, that is how we did things back in my community.”

“Really? Then what would the punishment be for your transgressions in your ‘community’?” Nobu asked, looking genuinely curious, noting down Hide’s words as he spoke.

Apparently this was a good thing to ask, since Hide immediately looked delighted. “Oh! I wasn’t aware you would be so interested in my community, Mr. Konto! I actually have some pamphlets back in my room if you want-”

“Hide, you’re getting off track again,” Kimiko pointed out, drawing Hide’s attention down to her. She grinned earnestly up to him before continuing, “You wanted to fix things with everybody, yeah? So maybe save some of your stuff for later, okay?”

“Ah, a very fair point, Ms. Bakudan. I did indeed get sidetracked there. Thank you very much for the warning,” he thanked her, nodding to Kimiko before grinning back at Nobu again, slipping his mask back in his jacket and clasping his hands together again. “Right, back to the subject at hand. I was actually planning to throw myself upon your mercy.” He paused, thinking. “Well, not specifically your mercy, Mr. Konto; I meant ‘your’ as in the group as a whole.” He shrugged. “Whatever you all think is best to do with me, I shall agree to it.”

[YOU SURE ABOUT THAT?] Akib spoke up, raising an eyebrow at Hide. [YOU REALLY WANNA PUT YOUR LIFE IN OUR HANDS?] _It is kind of weird for Hide to just do this all of a sudden._

“No need to worry, Mr. Akiba,” Hide replied, waving a hand dismissively. “I trust you all to come up with an appropriate punishment.”

“So you’d, say, cut off a finger if we suggested it?” Chinatsu asked, staring evenly up at Hide. _Ouch. Isn’t that a little too extreme?_

“Of course. I am a man of my word, after all.”

[THAT CASE, WHY DON’T WE JUST TIE HIM UP AND TOSS HIM IN HIS ROOM? OUTTA SIGHT, OUTTA MIND.]

“We can’t just lock Hideyoshi in his room,” Miyabi spoke up, frowning at Akiba as she leaned against our table.

[WHY NOT? IT’S A PRETTY EASY SOLUTION.]

“Not really. We’d need to set up a rotation to bring him food and water, for one thing,” Chinatsu said, holding up a finger for each point she made. “Second thing, if we tie him up, we’re going to need to untie him every so often. Ignoring the facts that he has to shower and shit and can’t really do either if he’s tied up, binding someone with ropes like that can fuck up the circulation in their arms if we do it wrong.”

“In addition, wouldn’t tying Hideyoshi up make him an easy target?” Nina pointed out, grinning at Akiba, who just raised an eyebrow in response. _Oh, great. Of course someone has to bring up murder again._

Noticing how the room had gone quiet, she continued. “Really, did you all think today would be the last time Kinirokuma would demand a killing be performed? He was quite insistent that one of us be murdered this entire week, and then he offered motivations when we failed to carry out his demands. Motivations that succeeded quite easily.” Nina smirked, cutting off a bit of her sausage before popping it in her mouth, apparently uncaring of how tense the atmosphere had gotten. “Mmm~ So, the question is, what will our captor do next-”

“Ah, actually,” Hide interrupted, grinning apologetically. “The current question is what to do with me.”

“Oh, right. My apologies. Please, continue.” _What the hell is going on in that girl’s head?_

Tetsu sighed, stroking his beard. “If Hideyoshi’s presence is truly such an issue, I am willing to act as a watchman to prevent him from acting out again.”

“Er, isn’t that still kind of an issue though?” Kiru spoke up, looking nervous as usual. “I mean, I don’t think you’d try to kill Hide or anything, and...I guess you could probably handle him, but…”

“It still gives you quite a bit of authority over him,” Nobu pointed out, frowning. “Authority I don’t feel comfortable leaving in an admitted murderer’s hands.”

“HA!” I think we all kind of jumped when Hide abruptly laughed, a sharp bark of amusement sounding out. He grinned down at Nobu, spreading his arms wide in a far too familiar gesture. _Guess he’s in performer mode now._ “Be honest with me, Mr. Konto. Do you really think anyone here is innocent?”

“No, I don’t, but-” “Actually,” he continued, speaking over Nobu and ignoring the journalist’s clear anger at being interrupted. “That does bring me to my second topic. What should we do with Ms. Sado?”

“Excuse you?” The girl in question glanced up from her food, glaring at Hide, who simply grinned in response.

“To put in ‘layman’s terms’, we all know that Ms. Sado the masseuse is also Ms. Sado the torturer, correct? Or, at least, so Ms. Raito the lawyer claims.” Hide turns his smirk towards Fuyumi, getting her to frown at him too, before raising his head to address the room as a whole. “Are we truly comfortable knowing that a violent sadist resides amongst us? One who, again according to Ms. Raito, has displayed sexual attraction to bloody corpses?”

I couldn’t help the shiver of revulsion that hit me there. Which seemed to be what Hide was going for, considering almost everybody else in the room was looking a bit more uneasy. Kinute just looked angry though, her fist clenched tight around the fork in her hand.

“I thought this was supposed to be about you?” Miyabi spoke up again, her tone a lot colder than before as she frowned at Hideyoshi. “You wanted to be punished, right? So why bring Kinute into it?”

[COULD IT BE THAT OUR TOTALLY BENEVOLENT LEADER IS ATTEMPTING TO DISTRACT US BY BRINGING UP KIKI’S WEIRD KINKS?] Akiba said, looking amused as Kinute turned her glare on him. He gave a raspy chuckle in response to her anger, before grinning over at Hide. [FOR SHAME, BOSSMAN. SECOND-ISH DAY OF LEADERSHIP AND YOUR ADMINISTRATION IS ALREADY WRACKED BY SCANDAL.]

Hide just shrugged in response, still grinning. “It’s something I feel needs to addressed. Why shouldn’t we be wary of a person declared the Ultimate Torturer? I may have mutilated a corpse, but Ms. Sado has likely done worse to living people. And possibly corpses, if that accusation was accurate as well.”

“But that’s all it is,” Miyabi responded, adjusting her glasses as she glared at Hide. “An accusation. We can’t know for sure-”

“But can we take that chance?” Hideyoshi’s grin widened, his voice calm and even but still tinged with obvious amusement. “Can we afford to take any chances? We have an accused torturer, an admitted murderer, and an open mutilator of human bodies amongst us. Can we truly afford to take any chances with such people?”

“You do realize you’re one of those people you mentioned?” Chinatsu asked, raising an eyebrow at the actor, who chuckled cheerfully in response.

“Indeed I do! So, how about it? Who wants to be the virtuous soul to deliver judgment upon us poor sinners, accused of crimes we may or may not have committed?”

“Oh my fucking god, can we _please_ talk about _anything_ else instead?”

“...”

“...” _Wait, shit, did I just say that out loud?_

The obvious answer to that question was a resounding yes, made clear by how everybody was looking at me now. _...Well, might as well dig myself deeper, see if I can’t strike lava._

“Right, well, um…” _Great job Atsuko. Really getting those points across._ “I-It’s just...look, I get that we’re all kind of dealing with stuff. And yes, I do agree that it’s kinda scary knowing that some of us have… _probably_ done some bad things in the past, and we shouldn’t just ignore that, demanding we start punishing people for stuff we can’t be sure of...it’s just going to hurt us all in the long run, right?”

“Y-Yeah, Atsuko has a point.” Surprisingly, the first person to agree with me was Kiru, the nervous doctor glancing between me and Hide. “I-If we keep this up, we’re going to be at each other’s throats, r-right? So...maybe it’s better to just drop the subject?”

“Well, it’s not like this discussion has been very productive,” Nobu muttered, apparently agreeing with me too. “While I’d prefer we just decide what to do with Hideyoshi sooner rather than later, it’s fairly obvious we’re not going to get anywhere with that discussion today. That being said, do either of you-” He gestured at Kiru, then at me “-have anything you’d like to bring up instead?”

_Um…_

After about a minute of silence, Nobu rolled his eyes. “I don’t know what I expected.” _You could be less of an asshole about it…_

“Heh. You did put them on the spot there, Nobu,” Nina spoke up, grinning at him as she pushed her plate away. “Well, since Atsuko spoke up first, perhaps we should discuss her?” Huh? “Kinirokuma did say something rather interesting during the trial’s aftermath. Something about her being the Cheater?” _Oh. Right. Shit. Dammit Nina..._

“Oh yes, there was that detail,” Hide mumbled, cupping his chin as he seemed to mull something over in his head.

“Huh. Guess I was on the money then,” Kinute noted, smirking at me. _Oh come on, I thought you were trying to be nice now!_ “So, how exactly did you earn that title-”

“Choose your next words very carefully,” Fuyumi abruptly spoke up, glaring coldly at Kinute, who immediately growled at her.

“Or what? You gonna-” “Kinute, please,” Miyabi interrupted, sitting down next to Kinute with a worried expression on her face. “We talked about this.”

“You talked,” she immediately spat in response, only to flinch at the disappointed look on Miyabi’s face. She grimaced, looking away. “Whatever.”

“Well, I do believe Ms. Chasseur was on the right track,” Hide spoke up again, smiling as he glanced at me. _The hell does that mean?_ “Though the way she went about it was rather rude.” 

Nina didn’t seem too bothered by that, just shrugging as Hide continued. “Rather than discussing Ms. Oko’s talent in particular, why don’t we try discussing the criminal talents as a whole? Kinirokuma did intend them to be something that would divide us all, so perhaps exploring the remaining unknowns could help us work better together.”

“I doubt anybody here wants to reveal all their secrets to everyone,” Fuyumi noted, now frowning at Hideyoshi.

“I didn’t say we needed to reveal every secret we have. Besides, some of them clearly aren’t as secret as others,” he replied, glancing down at Kimiko, who gave him a little thumbs up in response. He chuckled, before continuing. “For instance, Ms. Bakudan’s criminal talent is rather blatant, considering her normal talent’s association with explosives and fire, in addition to her natural predilection for fire.”

“Or like how your boytoy was pretty obvious on the whole ‘running people down’ front,” Kinute offered, smirking as Hide suddenly stiffened.

“...Yes, I suppose that would work as an example,” Hide replied, still smiling. “Though I must correct you on the idea that Vito and I’s relationship was in any way sexual.”

“Oh? You didn’t get that far with him?”

“Similarly,” he continued, ignoring her, “I am suddenly reminded of how you suggested last night that I use my acting fame to seduce young men and women, and obtain sexual favors. I ask that you refrain from such comments from now on.”

“Or what?” Kinute stood, ignoring Miyabi’s immediate demand for her to sit down-“Kinute, please, don’t-”-and smirked at Hide. “What the fuck are you going to do about it? Brainwash me into worshipping the sun or some shit?”

“We have an incinerator.” _...Huh?_ Hide’s smile had completely dropped, a disturbingly blank expression on his face before he abruptly frowned in thought, cupping his chin again. “Ah, wait, no, we just lost access to that. My mistake.”

Kinute blinked, looking confused at Hide’s sudden shift in demeanor, before the actor shrugged.

“Ah well, I’m sure I can think of something later. Anyway, yes, there are a few obvious criminal talents. For example, there’s the simple fact that we have an ‘Ultimate Butcher’ and a woman whose surname literally is ‘butcher’.” _Wait, what? Why would-...Why did he suddenly bring that up?_

“Gee, thanks Hideyoshi, I definitely wanted someone to bring that up,” Chinatsu said, glaring at Hide. He shrugged in response, prompting her to sigh and stand up. “Right, let’s just get this out of the way. Yeah, I’m probably the Ultimate Butcher. Not because of my name, but because some shit happened in my past. Not gonna say I’m not proud of it, because the fucker deserved it and more.”

“And who would ‘the fucker’ happen to be?” Nobu suddenly asked, staring intently at Chinatsu with an odd expression.

“A certain bastard who had it coming to him.” Chinatsu shrugged, scowling deeply. _Wait...does this have something to do with the serial killer she was talking about earlier?_ Beside me, Fuyumi sighed, leaning back in her chair and staring at Chinatsu with...sympathy? “Why do you want to know?”

“I’m curious. So, if you don’t mind?”

“I do mind. All I’m saying is that I lost my cool and a fucking monster-...” She sighed, visibly regaining her composure. “I killed a guy who killed my friend. That’s all I’m saying, that’s all you need to know.”

“And this was in Sapporo?” Nobu prodded, glancing between his notebook and Chinatsu.

“...What do you have written in there?” Chinatsu asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Notes. My question?”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m done talking.” She sat back down, glaring over at Hide, who grimaced in response.

“Ah, sorry about that,” he apologized, grinning sheepishly. “I really didn’t mean to bring up bad memories. You were just the first person I thought of...my mistake.”

Chinatsu frowned at him, before sighing. “Right, whatever. It’s fine, it was gonna come up at some point.” She suddenly glared at him, causing the actor to flinch at the sudden rage in her eyes. “Don’t do it again.”

“...Y-Yes, right, I will not.”

[YEESH, SCARY.] Akiba grinned as everyone’s attention was drawn to him. [YES, I’M STILL HERE. SO’S GREENY, THOUGH HE HASN’T SAID ANYTHING IN AWHILE.]

“Huh?” Tadashi stiffened as everybody’s attention was drawn to him. “...What? I didn’t have anything to say, so I stayed silent.”

[HEH. YOU SURE YOU’RE NOT JUST TRYING TO TAKE BLANKMAN’S SPOT AS THE FORGOTTEN GUY NOW THAT HE’S GONE?] 

“What? Why would I-”

[A-NY-WAY, WE ABOUT DONE HERE? I DO HAVE STUFF I WANNA DO TODAY OTHER THAN LISTEN TO TEENAGE DRAMA.]

“Aren’t you a teenager too?” Kimiko asked, looking genuinely curious

[IF YOU ASK SOME PEOPLE, SURE. I DO HAVE ABOUT A DOZEN IDS SAYING I’M OLDER THOUGH. AT LEAST ONE OF THEM SAYS I’M FORTY, FOR INSTANCE.]

“Hmph. Speaking of obvious talents,” Kinute spoke up, frowning at Akiba now, who simply grinned at her in reply. “You’re the hacker, aren’t you? Or are we supposed to take that little comment as a confession that you’re the forger?”

[OOO, GIVE THE CLEVER GIRL A COOKIE. SHE FIGURED OUT THE GUY COVERED IN ELECTRONICS, WHO GOES BY A NAME DIRECTLY REFERENCING AKIHABARA, IS IN FACT THAT ULTIMATE HACKER! TRULY FANTASTIC DEDUCTIVE SKILLS. IN FACT-] Akiba abruptly snapped his fingers, smirking as he pointed at Kinute. [-I GOT IT! YOU’RE NOT ACTUALLY THE ULTIMATE MASSEUSE, ARE YOU? NO, YOU’RE ACTUALLY THE ULTIMATE DETECTIVE! UNDERCOVER!]

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of,” Nobu stated, staring blankly at Akiba.

“...Y’know what, sure, fuck it. You’re actually kinda close,” Kinute suddenly said. _Wait, what?_ “Well, since Lawyer Bitch already accused me, might as well get this out of the way. Hi all you stupid bastards, I’m Kinute Sado, the Ultimate Interrogator.” _...What._

“Hold on, what?” Tadashi spoke up, looking as bewildered as I felt. “How...How does that work? You can’t hold two Ultimate titles...can you?”

Kinute shrugged, smirking now that she caught everyone off guard. “Well, when a girl is born into a seven hundred year old clan of torturers and executioners who once worked for nobility and now operates directly for the government, she tends to learn some fancy skills.” _...That’s...wow._

“Ah. Sado, as in the Sado Clan...” Nobu noted, frowning. “Hm. I didn’t realize you were such a...prestigious individual.”

Kinute snorted. “Prestigious? First time I heard someone call me that. The clan, sure, me, not so much.” _Wonder why that is…_

“So, wait, you’re from some ancient clan of torturers?” I had to ask. “How exactly does that translate into being a masseuse?” 

“That’s the part you focus on?” Kinute chuckled, smirking at me as she propped her head up on her hand. “Pretty sure your bitchy friend said it herself. If I know how to make a body feel good, only stands to reason I know how to make it feel bad. Ain’t that right, Raito?”

Fuyumi frowned, but stayed silent, letting Kinute continue her little spiel.

“Anyway, some shit happened with my family and I wound up staying with my uncle for a bit while my asshole parents dealt with some things I may or may not’ve caused. He was running this little massage parlor and taught me some stuff. Turns out I’m a natural. Enough of one that I got a nice extra title that works waaaay better for public shit. Masseuse just sounds so innocuous, y’know?”

[HUH. THAT’S QUITE A BIT SNEAKIER THAN I THOUGHT YOU WERE, KIKI.]

“What can I say? I’m a talented girl.”

[WHO STILL LIKES CORPSES WAY MORE THAN SHE SHOULD.]

Kinute immediately scowled, glaring at a grinning Akiba. “Seriously?! You’re still stuck on that?!”

[YOU GOTTA ADMIT IT’S PRETTY CREEPY.]

“Oh go fuck yourself. Like you haven’t done skeevy shit before.”

[HEY, HEY, I’M TOTALLY LEGIT. SURE, I DO USE MY TECH FOR PROFIT AND SHIT, BUT IT’S MOSTLY TESTING SOFTWARE PROTECTIONS FOR CORPORATIONS.]

“Then how exactly did you get stuck here with the rest of us?” Nobu asked, looking unimpressed.

Akiba sighed, looking annoyed. [OH FINE, I DO A COUPLE STUFF. NOTHING SUPER VIOLENT THOUGH, JUST, Y’KNOW, OPERATED UNDER A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT HANDLES LIKE COLDHEART OR REDCAP, STOLE SOME CORPORATE ASSETS, MAYBE BROKE INTO GOVERNMENT SERVER. NORMAL SHIT, Y’KNOW?]

“Yes, of course, completely normal…”

“Redcap?” Nina suddenly spoke up, looking curiously at Akiba. “From Akio-Na?”

[WAIT, WHAT?] Akiba stared incredulously at Nina, looking a bit stunned. [HOW THE HELL DO YOU KNOW THAT NAME?]

“Oh, I frequently use the site to find potential clients,” she explained, grinning cheerfully again. “I certainly didn’t expect to actually meet one of the site’s moderators in real life.”

[HEY HEY, QUIET DOWN ON THAT-OH SHIT YOU’RE THE HITMAN.] _Okay, what? Nina’s-...Actually, that one makes far too much sense…_

Akiba and Nina stared at each other blankly for a moment, before Nina abruptly giggled. “Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting someone else to out me. I suppose it’s well-earned in this case though. I did bring up a few things I probably should not have.” 

Setting down her fork and knife, Nina glanced around at everyone with her usual smile. Which actually seemed outright creepy this time instead of just unnerving. “None of you need to worry though. As Akiba should know, I am professional.”

[WELL, SHE IS ACTUALLY RIGHT ON THAT. ALABASTER HUNTRESS, RIGHT?] At Nina’s cheerful nod, Akiba continued. [YUP, SHE IS A PRO. ALRIGHT, QUICK EXPLANATION IS THAT I RUN A SITE ON THE SIDE CALLED AKIO-NA. IT’S A LITTLE DEEP WEB SITE FOR REQUESTING CERTAIN SERVICES, AND NINA HERE, LIKE A COUPLE OTHER PEOPLE I PROBABLY SHOULDN’T NAME, USES IT TO CHECK OUT OPEN CONTRACTS.]

“Yep! It’s a useful place for when I need to make some quick money while overseas.”

“...You run an assassination website,” Nobu deadpanned, staring at Akiba, who shrugged in response.

[IT’S NOT ALL ASSASSINATION. JUST, Y’KNOW, MOSTLY. SOMETIMES PEOPLE WANT NORMAL STUFF, LIKE STRIPPERS.]

“Normal stuff. Right.” Nobu sighed, frowning as he looked through his journal. “Well, that was informative. Now we know who we need to worry about.”

“Oh, you do not need to worry about me,” Nina promptly responded, grinning reassuringly. “I am very particular in my choice of targets, and I do not have any particular incentive to go after anyone here. Sure, a few of you may have piqued my interest, but no one is currently in danger.” _Pique her interest?_

“And what, exactly, qualifies as piquing your interest?” Nobu, of course, had to ask.

“Certain qualities you lack. Well, most likely lack. You certainly don’t seem like the type of person I would go after, and, considering your talent is likely the Ultimate Slander, you certainly wouldn’t fit my interest.”

Nobu sighed, rolling his eyes in irritation. “Why in the world would my ‘criminal talent’ be the Ultimate Slander?”

“Well, you are a journalist,” Hideyoshi spoke up, looking cheerful again, though now he was sitting at the edge of his table instead of standing up on it like a weirdo. “Defamation of character comes naturally to your type, correct? I’d say it’s fairly obvious who that title belongs to.”

“And I think it’s fairly obvious that you’re an idiot,” Nobu stated, closing his journal and putting it back in his satchel. He stood up, frowning at Hideyoshi with clear annoyance. “Well, this wasn’t exactly a waste of my time, but I certainly don’t feel like staying here anymore.”

“Why? Upset we figured you out?” Kinute asked, smirking at Nobu as she tapped a finger against the table.

“Not even close. Even if I was someone who defamed others, I wouldn’t be the Ultimate Slander, I would be the Ultimate Libel. Slander is the spoken word, while libel is the written word, and I’m a journalist, not a TV new host.”

“What, really? It is?” A voice suddenly spoke up from the ceiling. _...Wait, what?_

After a brief pause where everybody stared up the at the ceiling, the voice echoed out again. “Ah, shit. You idiots heard that, didn’t you?” One of the ceiling panels started shifting open, and Kinkuma suddenly fell through the gap, landing right on his face in the middle of the room. Another moment of awkward silence later, the bear rolled over onto his back, groaning softly. “Owwww…”

“...Um. Are...you okay?” Miyabi asked, staring in bemusement at the bizarre bear.

“Nnn...y-yeah…” Kinkuma slowly pushed himself up on his feet, wobbling slightly. “Yeesh, none of you even bothered to help me up!” _Why would we?_

“Why would we?” Nobu asked, scowling down at Kinkuma.

“Aw, rude! And after I thanked you for teaching me something new!”

“You didn’t do that.”

“Well I was going to, but then you were rude. Anyway, hello you bastards!” he greeted us, stretching his arms out above his head.

“Have you been spying on us the whole time?” Nobu asked in a low, angry tone, grimacing and taking a step back when Kinkuma turned his golden gaze on him.

“Of course not! I was just napping up there! It’s my favorite spot to rest, after all.” Kinkuma crossed his arms over his chest, chuckling cheerfully as he stared up at Nobu, who glared back at him. “Though I did hear a few fun things~! I have to say, it’s pretty amazing that you jackasses went right from watching your fellow criminal get executed to eating and chatting like the very best of friends~!” _...Were you paying attention at all?_

“Why, you were actually trusting each other instead of being antisocial morons who let things build until everybody cracks! Y’know, if you weren’t criminals, I’d actually say it’s downright cute!” The demented bear giggled again, before abruptly turning around to stare at me, his voice going low and menacing again.

“Really though, trusting others in a situation like this will only get you a knife in the ribs. After all, can you really trust the word of a criminal? Can you _really_ afford to believe in people who torture dissidents for the government or blow out brains for a living? Sure, one or two of you smarter morons might’ve bothered to actually do your research on everyone else joining your Hope’s Peak class, so you might, just might, be able to pick out the liars from the honest crooks, but, well, information can be tampered with.” He turned back to grin at Nobu again, the journalist’s expression darkening with outright rage.

“But what about the rest of you?” He grinned at the rest of us, twisting his head around to look everyone in the eyes at least once. I couldn’t help shuddering when his golden eye stared directly at me. “You’re deep in the dark with no way to know who to trust, who to listen to, who might be a friend and who might be about to gut you like a trout. Take Whitey, for example.” He turned his smirk on Nina, who just grinned back. “Would you be willing to cut a few throats if I paid you, Ms. Professional Killer?”

“Hm...no, I don’t think I will,” Nina replied, looking unconcerned. “You strike me as a rather unpleasant client to work with, and your clear distaste towards ‘criminals’ means you would likely murder me after my use was over.”

“Eh?” Kinkuma cocked his head, apparently not expecting that response. “No, no, I wouldn’t do that! Well, I mean, if you didn’t get caught during the trial I wouldn’t. I’m a bear of my word!”

“Still, not interested.” She shrugged, taking her plate and standing up as she glanced at Hide. “Well, now that our illustrious captor is here to ruin the fun, is it fine if I leave the meeting? I’m really not interested in putting up with him.” She suddenly looked thoughtful. “Oh, I also never got around to cleaning my clothing. Hm.” She glanced back down at Kinkuma. “Has the laundry room been cleaned up? I would rather not do my laundry in front of a corpse.”

Kinkuma actually seemed kind of put out by how little Nina seemed to care about his attempts at scaring us. Which totally didn’t work on me. At all. 

“Well, yeah, course I-Hey wait, you can’t just leave-” 

“Ah, good. Hide?”

Hideyoshi shrugged, clapping his hands together again. “Well, if that’s all for now, meeting adjourned I suppose.”

“H-Hey! You can’t-” “Thank you!” Nina cheerfully interrupted Kinkuma, heading to the kitchen again while the golden bear sputtered impotently.

“Th-That’s not fair! I’m the guy in charge here, not you!” Kinkuma shouted, whirling towards Hideyoshi, who simply shrugged in response. 

“You may be the one holding us captive, but you completely lack leadership qualities. Fear doesn’t equal respect, and anger can easily override fear. Though I suppose Ms. Chasseur’s case is more one of apathy than fury,” Hide noted, getting off the table and grinning to us. “Well, if that’s everything, I shall be in my room for a bit. I do have a few things to go over, but I’m entirely open if anyone wants to talk. Oh, and I am also willing to give out those pamphlets I mentioned to anyone interested in my community, such as Mr. Konto.”

“Hm. I might actually take you up on that,” Nobu muttered, looking thoughtful.

“Ah, fantastic! Well, feel free to come around whenever you want. I’m always open to those curious about the community I created. Oh, and thank you very much, Kimiko, for helping me get back to normal.” _Are you ever normal?_

“No problem Hide,” Kimiko replied, smiling back at him. “Glad I could help!”

“Heh. Well, if that’s all, I’m off.” With that said, Hide gave us a flourishing bow before heading out, completely ignoring Kinkuma as he exited through the kitchen.

“Oh come on. I come here to try to make friends and you guys just push me away!” the bear complained, looking even more exaggeratedly upset. 

“I thought you said you were napping up there?” Beatrice pointed out, grinning at the golden jackass.

“Bah! You bastards are no fun!” Kinkuma complained, before suddenly jumping onto a table and flipping up onto one of the chandeliers. “See if I ever do anything nice for you!” He then pushed up one of the panels in the ceiling and crawled inside, his stubby legs wiggling in the air before he finally pulled himself in.

_That guy is the weirdest combination of clumsy and dextrous._

Letting out an annoyed sigh, Nobu turned around without another word and headed out of the dining hall and into the kitchen, probably heading towards his room. _Well, at least he didn't make any unnecessary comments this time._

“Well, I suppose this meeting turned out better than expected,” Tadashi noted, shrugging as he headed back to his table to grab his plate. “Though I think I’m going to head to my room after this. Today’s been...exhausting, to say the least.”

Chinatsu sighed, visibly letting out some of her obvious tension. “Yeah, it’s probably better to just relax for now. Rest and prepare for whatever else that bastard bear has planned for us.” She stood up, grimacing as she stretched her neck out, before sighing again. “Hm...If anybody needs me, I’m gonna be with Nina. See ya.”

And with that, she headed out too, which seemed to be the signal to the rest of us to start heading off on our own ways. Well, almost everybody. Beatrice was still in her chair, apparently thinking about something. _Hm. She was pretty silent during that whole discussion…_

“Atsuko?” _Eh?_

I glanced behind me. _Oh, Fuyumi’s also still here. Right._

“Are you okay?” she asked, looking between me and Beatrice, before seeming to realize something. “Oh, oh, right. Do you want to talk with her alone?”

“Eh?”

“Heh, don’t worry, I get it. Um, see you later. Hope everything goes well!” _Wait, what?_

And on that confusing note, Fuyumi left too, leaving me alone with Beatrice. Walking up to her, I cleared my throat to get her attention. “Er, hey Beatrice, so...how are you doing?” 

She glanced up at me, that same tired look in her eyes that she had before, and then grinned, clearly try to hide it. “Oh, hey Atsuko, I'm doing…about as okay as I can be in this situation. Just a little tired from all the drama. And, uh...I was just thinking about something, is all...” As she trailed off, she stared back down at the table, her smile dropping into a small frown.

“Is that something you can share or is it a secret?” 

“It's not a secret, I was just thinking that, well.” She looked back up at me with a small, tired smile. “We have a lot of scary people stuck in here with us, huh?”

\----♥----

 **Kinirokuma Theater:** ♥

_Kinkuma sits on a stage, two spotlights illuminating him as he stares out into an empty audience. A festival of balloons are floating are floating behind him, tied to a little stand._

“Have you ever heard of the *Power of Love*? It’s one of those sappy, silly things morons come up with to do things that really shouldn’t work, but somehow do. A pretty little lie that romance writers set up so they can draw in all that lonely housewife money. Not to be confused with the power of friendship, which is an even dumber lie that shonen writers use to get out of coming up with smart ways to finish off their bad guys. Hm...which of these two do you think would win in a fight? Love or friendship? Or would they just wind up mixing together in some weird, sappy combo? The Power of Loveship! ...Ew, no, that sounds terrible. Well, whatever. It’s not like love or friendship ever lasts.”

_The balloons begin popping. As the curtains close, one remains, before a final pop sounds out._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: And here's the chapter proper! Again, thank you all for being very patient, and we hope you enjoy the chapter.
> 
> Indismile: Truly the scariest monsters are people
> 
> And we have a lot of scary people in this story. Some scarier than we've shown so far. Anyway, see you all next time. Hopefully we'll get the next chapter out much sooner.


	11. The Land of Hearts

**Chapter 10**

*Ding dong bing bong, bing bong ding dong!*

“GOOD MORNING EVERYONE! It is now 7AM! Night is over and the day has begun! So get your lazy asses up and at ‘em!” 

I groaned as Kinkuma’s grating voice dragged me out of my slumber. Despite sleeping in a rather comfy bed, I felt as stiff as a board. Getting up out of bed, I stretched my arms over my head, grunting as my muscles popped, before heading to my bathroom to begin my morning routine.

After a nice, warm, relaxing shower that managed to clear away most of the cobwebs in my brain, I headed over to the mirror and...just kind of stared at myself. More specifically, my freckles. Little blemishes, marring my face, making me stand out.

 _But I don’t need to worry about that here, do I?_ I found myself thinking, staring the little flecks dotting my cheeks and bridging over my nose. _I’m an Ultimate. Everybody else here stands out...So why shouldn’t I? Nobody seemed to care yesterday, so...maybe...maybe I can…_

I sighed, glancing away from my face to my hair, hanging wet and limp around my face and down my neck. My dark hair. Straight and black. Like the average person. Like no one else here. _They’d certainly notice if that changed…_

Something to consider later, I supposed. And so I continued my morning routine, just with that one deviation of leaving my freckles visible. _It’s not like my parents are here to get upset._

\----:----

Now nice, clean, and fully dressed, I headed out of my room once more to greet the new day, still trapped in this gaudy hellhole. Or, more specifically, to greet Kiru, who I nearly ran into walking out the door.

“Eep!” _...Did he just squeak?_

“A-Ah, Atsuko!” Kiru stammered with a strained grin, his eyes sunken and baggy. “I, um, didn’t notice you, sorry. D-Did you sleep well?”

“As well as I could,” I muttered, frowning. Sure, the meeting had ended pretty calmly, even with Kinkuma’s interruption, but Beatrice’s cryptic words yesterday had been stuck in my head all day. She said she’d explain what she meant today, but it still bugged me. It certainly didn’t help that Fuyumi seemed to be in a sour mood because of something with Chinatsu, and everybody else seemed some mixture of tense or agitated.

I sighed, before trying to smile at Kiru. “So, what do you think the reward’s supposed to be?”

“E-Eh?”

“Remember after the trial? Kinkuma said we’re supposed to get something today as a reward for...completing the trial.”

“O-Oh, right, that…” Kiru scratched his head, grimacing. “I don’t suppose it’s a way out of here? I really don’t want to spend another day in this place…”

“Heh. I’m with you on that. Alright, let’s see if anyone else is up,” I suggested, heading towards the lounge with Kiru. “If Kinkuma’s not willing to give us a way out, maybe someone else found one.”

“Well, there are those other shutters in the main area,” Kiru noted, as we walked. “Maybe those will open up-...Uh…?” _Okay, what?_

As we entered the lounge, both Kiru and I were greeted with the odd sight of over a dozen bear plushies piled up the long table in the middle of the lounge. They looked like Kinkuma, except black and white, with a jagged red eye in the place of Kinkuma’s gold one. And they were all holding knives. Large, steel hunting knives with red hilts, their blades shaped like Kinkuma’s jagged eye. _Huh._

“Oh, hello Ms. Oko, Kiru.” And Hide’s here too, crouched down by the table. Of course-Oh, so’s Kimiko. The pale pyrotechnist was laying on the right-hand couch and cuddling one of plushies for some reason.

“Hi guys,” she said, smiling softly as she hugged the little bear to her chest.

“Er, hi Kimiko, hi Hide. What’s uh...with the plushies?”

“You mean the monokumas?” Hide asked, standing up and holding out one of the bears. It had the same creepy half-smile as Kinkuma, but the white teeth somehow looked creepier than Kinkuma’s golden grin.

“The what?”

In response, Hide picked up a little sign from the table and showed it to us. On it were the words “Hi there! I’m Monokuma! I’m a despicable little bear who deserves tons of pain! So gimme!”. _...What the fuck?_

“Er, what, um, does that mean?” Kiru asked, phrasing the question way better than I was going to.

“I’m not entirely sure, though I imagine these are supposed to be our reward,” Hide speculated, picking up one of the knives and immediately making me uncomfortable. I remembered what he did the last time he had a knife, and seeing another one in his hands seemed to spell trouble. “Stuffed bears and weapons. Certainly an odd reward, wouldn’t you say?”

“Y-Yeah, I guess,” Kiru agreed, also looking very uncomfortable. “Maybe, um...maybe we should get rid of them?”

“Hm? Why?”

“Well, I mean, I doubt it’s a good thing that Kinkuma gave us a bunch of knives. And, um, you do have to admit that, uh…”

“Yes, I can see why it may be a bad idea to leave blades out where anybody can get to them, but by that logic we should dispose of all the knives in the kitchen as well,” Hide replied, shrugging as he set the knife and bear down again. “Besides, we can’t exactly dispose of them at this point. Our captor locked off the trash disposal room, remember?”

“Huh. Is that why he locked it off? To keep us from getting rid of his weird gift?” I asked, frowning as I stared down at the little plushies. There was just something...off about them, niggling at the back of my mind.

“I thought he did that as a punishment for, uh…” Kiru trailed off, scratching his head nervously as Hide kept smiling pleasantly at him. Which would’ve been nice to see if it weren’t for the fact that Hide had gone completely and utterly still. 

Kiru coughed, looking awkward and then jumping slightly when Hide suddenly clapped his hands together. 

“Right then,” the actor began, glancing at each of us. “I suppose we should wait for everyone else to awaken before we decide what to do with these ‘gifts’ of Kinkuma’s.” He abruptly grinned at us, sounding more cheerful. “Why don’t I make breakfast for us while we wait?”

“I’d like pancakes,” Kimiko said, glancing away from her plushy toward Hide, who smiled back at her.

“Pancakes it is!” And with that, Hide headed for the kitchen. As he left the lounge, I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding in. 

“I probably should have kept my mouth shut,” Kiru muttered as he sat on the sofa by Kimiko, who promptly put her feet in his lap. The surgeon blinked, then shuffled further down the couch, leaving Kimiko frowning at him.

 _Yeah, you definitely should have._ I thought, sitting down on the sofa opposite of them. I sighed and sank into the couch cushions, trying to ignore the stuffed bears staring at me. _...We should probably take away their knives._

“You have freckles.” 

_Eh?_ I glanced away from the red-eyed bears to see Kimiko looking at me. She cocked her head, staring at my face quite intently.

“You have freckles now.” Bringing up a hand, she pointed at me. “When did you get those?”

_Did…Did she seriously not notice them before?_

“Um… N-Not to be rude but she had them yesterday as well,” Kiru spoke up, thankfully taking Kimiko’s attention away from me. “She was just using concealer to keep them covered before.” 

“Oh. Weird.” And that was apparently it. Kimiko went back to staring at her bear, leaving Kiru and me to glance at each other in confusion.

_...Hopefully somebody else shows up soon._

\----:----

Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait too long for everybody else to arrive. Oddly enough, Kinute happened to be the first arrival this time. She was just as irritable as ever, if better rested.

“Eh? Why’re you idiots hanging out here-...” Kinute trailed off, blinking as she noticed the pile of monokumas. Staring at the stuffed toys, she blinked again before rubbing at her eyes and raising an eyebrow at them. “...Okay, what the fuck?”

“Save it,” I replied, slouching back against the couch. “We can explain when everybody else is here.”

“Uh...sure,” Kinute replied, blatantly bewildered. She took a seat on the sofa opposite me, about as far away from us as possible, though she did keep glancing back at Kimiko hugging her monokuma with a confused look.

_I think the two of us finding that weird is the closest we'll ever get to agreeing with one another._

Fuyumi arrived a few minutes later, looking much more exhausted than usual. At least until she noticed the monokumas and got that same confused look on her face as Kinute. The same process repeated a few times with each arrival; Tadashi and Miyabi both seemed pretty bewildered at the sight of the stuffed animals, while Chinatsu just raised an eyebrow at the pile of bears before taking a seat on the sofa opposite of me. And opposite of Fuyumi. _Which probably isn’t a coincidence._

Anyway, Akiba was the next one in, and he seemed more amused than weirded out by what he deemed the “stabby bears”. Then came Nobu, who seemed much more tired and irritable than usual. Tired enough that he barely glanced at the monokuma pile before heading over to one of the chairs around the lounge and just kind of flopping on it. Nina came in after him and was immediately drawn to the pile of plushies, taking one for her own and sitting next to Chinatsu. Notably, she also took the knife the bear was carrying…

Luckily, the huntress/hitman-- _hitwoman?_ \--was soon distracted by Hideyoshi entering the room with a few large stacks of pancakes, along with several plates and silverware balanced in his arms. _Hm. Why is that the creepier members of our group keep making meals for us? And both of them have weirdly good balance…_

Anyway, he started passing those out while our final arrivals, Tetsu and Beatrice, well, finally arrived.

“Ooo, nice, breakfast,” Beatrice said with a grin, immediately getting a plate of her own and starting to move some of the pancakes onto her plate, before pausing, a brief guilty look crossing her face. And then she noticed me frowning at her, stiffened, and grinned awkwardly as she went back to getting food for herself.

“Hmph,” I huffed, getting some food for myself as Beatrice took a seat next to me.

“Alright, it seems everyone is finally here,” Hide noted, smiling cheerfully as he passed out the plates and silverware to everyone currently without them. “Now, I’m sure you all have questions about the odd little ‘reward’ Kinkuma has clearly decided to grace us with, but I would ask that you save all questions for after the meal, when we can properly discuss the possible ramifications of these strange plushies.”

“Are you certain that’s the best course of action we can take?” Tetsu spoke up, frowning at the stuffed animals as he stood by the door, taking no steps to join the rest of us. He stared up at Hide, who met his gaze evenly with a relaxed smile. “Do we know anything at all about this supposed reward?”

“We know the little bears are named Monokuma and he likes pain,” Kimiko...sort of explained, still hugging her own bear to her chest as she leaned against Tadashi, who seemed far too accepting of his role as Kimiko’s impromptu pillow. 

“Likes pain?”

“The little note, Mr. Fighter,” Hideyoshi explained, holding up Monokuma’s sign. “It states this character’s name and apparent desire, though I’m not sure why it has a knife-”

 _Shrrrriiiip._ Suddenly, the sound of tearing filled the air as Nina took her bear’s knife and stabbed directly into its chest, slowly drawing the blade downward through its belly as red stuffing began falling to the floor.

“Uh, what are you doing?” I had to ask, watching as Nina gutted the stuffed bear. The huntress didn’t respond, just cutting straight through the monokuma’s belly before setting her knife down and reaching inside him, her hand visibly moving inside the bear as she grabbed something and yanked it out. 

“Ah ha!” Nina grinned, holding up her prize for the rest of us to see. _It’s...a key?_

A bright red key, the little ring at the end shaped like a heart.

“Huh. It looks like the actual prize is inside the bears,” Tadashi observed, raising an eyebrow at the odd key. “I suppose that’s what the note means by ‘deserving pain’?”

“Well that’s fucked up,” Chinatsu muttered, glancing down at the other bears.

“I suppose,” Nina began, idly tossing the disemboweled monokuma over her shoulder as she held up the key with a curious smile on her face. “However, it does mean something interesting. There is still a blocked off area in the casino, correct?”

“You mean the shutters,” Chinatsu said, now looking thoughtful. “How’s a key supposed to open those up though? I thought Kinkuma controlled them.”

“Perhaps there's something behind the shutters we need the keys for?” Hide mused as he grabbed a monokuma as well and began to cut it open as well. _Oh, I guess we’re doing this now._ Digging into the stuffed bear, he pulled out a key with the same heart shape at the end as Nina’s key and grinned. “I would say the fact that we’ve found two keys so far lends credence to my theory.”

[HUH. GUESS WE’RE GOING ON A TREASURE HUNT LATER.] Akiba spoke up, before grabbing a bear of his own. Taking its knife, he starts cutting it open, more bizarre red stuffing spilling onto the floor. I suppose that was the cue for the rest of us to start grabbing bears of our own. Tetsu certainly seemed to think so, considering how he walked up to the table, grabbed one of the monokumas, and easily tore the head off entirely. _I really hope he was being serious with that promise to never kill anyone..._

“Th-This is kinda morbid don't you think? I mean, why would he have us cut open something that looks like him?” Kiru asked as he hesitantly began to slice his own open.

“I don't care if it is morbid this is fucking cathartic.” Kinute said as she ignored the knife entirely, digging her nails into bear’s throat and splitting the fabric right open. Bits of stuffing went everywhere as she easily ripped apart the stuffed toy. “‘Sides, aren’t you a surgeon? Thought you’d be used to cutting open people.”

“I-I only ’cut open’ a person when I’m need to! A-And it’s purely for medical reasons!”

“Heh, sure Mr. Malpractice, whatever you say.”

“I am curious why this suddenly makes you squeamish,” Tadashi spoke up, slowly cutting open a bear of his own. Next to him, Kimiko was frowning quite noticeably as everybody started gathering up the bears and slicing them open. “You’ve seen worse, haven’t you?”

“Y-Yes, I have. A-A lot worse. But, well...i-it feels odd,” Kiru said, shuddering slightly as he dug into his bear for its key. “I...I don’t know how to describe it. There’s just something about these...things that unnerves me. Like I’m going to be hurt for messing with them…” _Huh? That’s...an odd reaction._

I frowned, watching Kiru as he finally yanked the key out of the now limp plushy. He immediately dropped the empty bear on the ground, visibly moving away from it with a uncomfortable look on his face. 

_Well, whatever, it’s probably not important._ I thought, glancing away from Kiru and staring down at my own bear. _These things do look weirdly creepy though._

I didn’t waste time with my bear, just slit open its belly and yanked the key out, tossing it over my shoulder when I was done. All around me, everybody else seemed to be either finishing up their task or right in the middle of it. Well, aside from Kimiko, who was still hugging her bear and didn’t seem to want to damage it, and Nobu, who was still laying on his chair and writing something down. 

Suddenly, he looked up, apparently noticing my gaze on him, and stared back at me with...suspicion? He abruptly stood up, headed over to the single remaining Monokuma, and casually slit its throat, before tilting the heads back and reaching inside to rip out the key. All while staring at me.

“You okay there, Nobu?” Beatrice suddenly asked beside me, raising an eyebrow at the exhausted journalist. She had made one small, very precise cut in the center of her monokuma, wide enough to easily slip out the key inside it. “You’re looking kind of...intense.”

“I suppose I am,” he muttered, heading back to his chair without a backwards glance, putting the knife in his satchel as he did. _The hell is up with that guy?_

Well, Kiru’s odd reactions and Nobu’s weird intensity aside, it looked like everybody had finished slicing and/or ripping open their monokumas. Everyone except for...Kimiko.

“No.” Hugging her toy, Kimiko shrank into the couch, like she was trying to hide it from us.

“Kimiko, I understand that you like the stuffed bear, but the key inside may help us out,” Tadashi explained as he tried to convince Kimiko to open the bear, his voice soft and comforting. 

“You already have a bunch of keys,” she mumbled, glaring at us from over the bear’s head. “My bear might not even have one.”

“That’s fairly unlikely, given how every monokuma up until this point had a key inside them,” Fuyumi spoke up, setting her knife down on the table and trying to smile reassuringly at Kimiko. “Please Kimiko? That key could be very important.”

“No. Mono’s mine. ‘M not gonna let you hurt him.”

“Why not? The fucking thing’s based on the asshole that stuck us here,” Kinute pointed out, scowling. The remains of her bear were currently scattered all over the floor, so I kind of doubted Kimiko would be willing to listen to her.

“That’s Kiniro. This is Mono. He hasn’t done anything wrong.” Kimiko paused, then added as an afterthought, “Yet, at least.” _...Something feels really off about that statement, but I’m not sure what…_

“Well, what if I handle him for you?” Miyabi suddenly offered, standing up and heading over to Kimiko’s spot on the couch. Tadashi moved over a bit so the seamstress could sit down by Kimiko, smiling reassuringly at the pyrotechnist. “I’ve repaired a few stuffed animals in my time, so I could open him up to get the key and then return him as good as new.”

Kimiko blinked at that, slowly drawing her knees up to her chest as she sat up, still hugging the bear. “...You promise?”

“I swear,” Miyabi promptly replied, smiling at Kimiko.

“...Could you do the same for the rest of the Monos?”

“I don’t see why not. No one else wants these bears, correct?” At a resounding series of “no”s from everybody, she smiled again at Kimiko. “So, is it a deal?”

“...Yeah, sure, okay.” Kimiko slowly handed the bear to Miyabi, frowning as the seamstress took the stuffed animal and brought it over to the table. Far quicker than should’ve been possible, Miyabi took out a needle and thread, easily opened up the monokuma along its seams, retrieved the key, and sewed it up in only a few seconds. _Wow, it really does look perfect. Well, she’s an Ultimate for a reason._

Kimiko grinned happily as Miyabi handed her the bear again, immediately hugging it to her chest once more. “Thank you!”

“Heh, it’s no problem at all-” “Yeesh, you guys are still in here?” Miyabi froze mid-sentence as a familiar, grating, and not at all welcome voice sounded out. “I thought you assholes would come looking for me for a hint on the rewards or something. I was waiting onstage for you little shits to show up!”

Kinkuma, because of course it had to be him, had his arms crossed over his chest and was tapping his foot impatiently as he stood by the door to the kitchen, his golden eye seeming to glare at all of us. The golden bear, unlike his black and white counterparts, was actually dressed up for once, wearing a bright pink jacket that looked far too big for him, a bunch of red and pink hearts decorating the fabric.

“You’re kidding, right?” Nobu spoke up, sitting up and leaning forward to stare at Kinkuma, propping his head up on his hand. “Even if we didn't figure this out, I'd rather stab myself with these knives before asking _you_ for help.” 

“Yeesh, I do something nice and this is the thanks I get,” Kinkuma huffed, slouching a bit and turning away from us with his stubby arms crossed over his chest. “Criminals these days, so ungrateful...Anyways!”

He abruptly spun around and faced us again, his previous sadness gone in a flash as he adopted that stupid lecturing pose. “As you may have guessed, yes, those keys will open up a few new places for you bastards. Well, some of them will. A few of those keys may or may not be completely worthless. Others of them might open up fancy new rewards. It’s all matter of luck, I suppose.” Rubbing the back of his head, he flashes us a golden grin. “Just don’t switch keys, got it? Don’t take anyone else’s either. You use the key you got or you don't use one at all.” 

“And what if we do switch keys?” Kinute asked, raising an eyebrow at the golden bear. “Or if I just decide to take them all for myself?”

“Heh. The traditional punishment for thieves is to lose their hands,” Kinkuma replied. “Though I’m sure I can come up with something a little more...creative. So, you wanna give it a try?”

“Fuck off.”

“Hmph. So rude. And here I was, about to tell you that a brand new world has been opened up to you all! Oh, wait, just did that...” Kicking one of the monokuma heads, Kinkuma fumed, clearly agitated in spite of his perpetual grin. “Yeesh, I put together a whole fancy presentation for you bastards and you don’t even bother to show up!”

[IF YOU WANTED US AT THE STAGE, WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST LEAVE A NOTE?] Akiba asked.

“Because-...Shut up.” Kinkuma huffed, glaring at us. “Right, y’know what? No, I’m not letting all my hard work for you ungrateful shits go to waste. You assholes are following me and we’re doing this. Right. _Now._ ”

And with that, Kinkuma spun around and started heading towards the door, before twisting his head around to glare at us. “THAT MEANS RIGHT _FUCKING_ NOW!”

I definitely didn’t flinch in the face of his anger. It did startle me slightly, but...Anyway, we soon followed after the jackass bear, rather than deal with whatever bullshit he’d come up with to punish us for ignoring him. Though Akiba did take the remaining pancakes with him.

\----:----

“Alright, so, since you jackasses actually figured out that you were supposed to cut open those stupid plushies without even bothering to talk to me about it, we’ll just skip over that shit,” Kinkuma stated up on the stage, a remote held in his paw as he went through a little slideshow presentation showing a detailed series of diagrams showing exactly how to slice open the monokuma plushies in disturbingly graphic detail. _I’m pretty sure none of those plushies had internal organs…_

“So, you little bastards are supposed to be students, right?” Kinkuma continued, glancing down from to screen to stare out at us.

[DUH.] Akiba replied, using one of the roulette tables as an impromptu dining table while he ate the remaining pancakes. [ALSO, WE’RE ALL TALLER THAN YOU. EVEN THE BEARDED WEIRDO.]

“...Bearded weirdo?” Tetsu actually sounded pretty offended at that, staring incredulously at Akiba.

“Would you stop eating during my lecture?! Agh, whatever, whatever. So, students. That means you assholes can answer a simple question, right?” Kinkuma clicked his remote, bringing up a map of the casino floor and the surrounding rooms, each of the doors marked out in black. Except for one on the left side of the room, further down from the laundry room was, which was marked in bright red. “What’s the theme I’m going for here?” _Theme?_

“Aside from a warped sense of justice?” Hideyoshi spoke up, looking unimpressed with Kinkuma’s weird question.

“Card suits,” Nobu replied, noting something down again. _Wait, is he sketching the map?_ “There are spade designs all over the main floor of the casino, and you just gave us a series of keys with a heart theme, which we dug out of the chests of those stuffed bears that looked remarkably like you.” He glanced up from his notebook. “You’re also wearing an absolutely atrocious pink suit jacket with hearts patterned on it. It’s not that hard.” _...Why is he looking at me when he says that?_

“Heh. Two points for the teacher’s pet. Careful there, you don’t want to steal Kitten’s talent. Anyway, that’s indeed the case! Any guesses on what it means?” 

“There are two areas of this place remaining,” I spoke up, frowning at Nobu before glaring up at Kinkuma. “One for clubs and one for diamonds.”

“And we can only get to those areas if one of us commits murder,” Fuyumi chimed in, frowning in thought as she watched the grinning bear. “We would need at least three murders and three executions to access all of the areas. So we can assume you’re hoping for at least six deaths total.”

“Nope! I’m hoping for fifteen. Sixteen, if I can get it, but doing it myself would be against the rules, so nah,” Kinkuma replied dismissively, as though he hadn’t just declared that he wants all of us dead. “Anyway, now that you bastards knows what to do, have fun figuring out which keys go where. It’ll be a like a little scavenger hunt, except with more keys and locks and less digging through bushes. Make sure to get plenty frustrated and angry! After all, I’m gonna be watching and you guys already robbed me of my entertainment for this morning.

“Now, let the treasure hunt begin!” And with that said, Kinkuma clicked a button on his remote, dramatic music playing as the shutter slowly opened up, revealing the brand new section of the casino we were supposed to explore. Or, well, at least it probably was supposed to be dramatic. Since we were all at the stage instead of by the shutter, we couldn’t actually see it open up, due to all the slot machines in the way.

“Uh...did something happen?” Kimiko asked, sounding genuinely curious. Kinkuma just stared at her, before sighing and slumping forward slightly.

“...I fucking hate this building,” Kinkuma muttered, snapping his remote in half and stomping off stage. _I never thought I'd agree with him._

“Well, shall we go see if those shutters opened?” Nina asked. A bit redundantly since she was already walking towards where the opened entrance was.

“No reason not to,” Hide agreed as he walked with her. The rest of us followed their lead, heading towards the “brand new world”.

Above the entryway was a little sign designating it the “hall of hearts”, opening up into a long white hallway decorated with a series of pink and red ribbons trailing along the ceiling, large red hearts spaced out across each wall. At the end of the hall was a set of fancy white doors with red handles, also decorated with rubies cut in the shape of hearts. Nina got there first, so she opened them up to reveal...

_...How the fuck did this place get even weirder?_

\----:----

The “new world” we entered looked more like a plaza surrounded by storefronts, one in each corner, their entrances covered by locked shutters, with actual large locks keeping them closed. Each store had a different design style to them, standing out a bit from the plaza’s eerie red and white color scheme. A color scheme that actually made the floor of the plaza look almost like a giant chessboard, with white and red tiles spaced out evenly across the whole square.

There were also numerous marble statues set up all around the plaza, all nude men and women in various poses. They were probably meant to look classy and sophisticated, an impression that was completely ruined by the sprawling red graffiti covering every single one of them. Each statues was covered in a series of spirals, lightning bolts, stars, hearts, and arrows pointing to their genitals with some fairly lewd suggestions scrawled over them. A few of them even had bizarre red and white Kinkuma heads set on them, their twisted grins seeming to leer at us as we stepped forward into this demented place.

Dominating the center of the plaza was an absolutely massive fountain, covered in more marble figures, plus the occasional curling, serpentine dragon carving. It probably would’ve looked quite pretty, if it weren’t for the spirals of red paint curling around every single statue. Flashy didn’t even begin to describe the gaudy designs each statue had been afflicted with, and the fountain itself seemed almost sinister as a result. The fact that the fountain’s statues were all dripping and pouring a bright red liquid from their mouths into its basin, looking eerily like a massive pool of blood, certainly didn’t help that impression.

There were also a few couches set up around the fountain, sort of like park benches, if benches looked like they were made of ivory and had cushions made of red silk. _Hm. This would actually be a nice place to relax, if it weren’t for all the freaky statues…_

“Wow. I knew the guy controlling that bear had to be rich to get all that stuff in the casino, but this is a whole ‘nother level of wealth,” Chinatsu commented as she examined one of the statues. “I mean, owning these statues is one thing, but they're just painting all over them like it's nothing.”

“I may not have a keen eye for the arts, but I can certainly see these are rather high quality,” Tetsu agreed, also examining one of the messed up statues.

[YEAH YEAH, WE CAN TALK ABOUT THE MASTERMIND’S SHITTY SENSE OF DECORATING LATER,] Akiba interjected, glancing around the room before grinning as he looked at one of the stores. He glanced back at us with a wide smile. [YOU HEARD THE BASTARD, RIGHT? WE’VE GOT A TREASURE HUNT GOING ON! WHICH MEANS WE SHOULD BE OPENING UP THESE PLACES ASAP INSTEAD OF CHATTING ABOUT STUPID DECORATIONS!] 

His piece said, the grinning technician headed over to the nearest storefront, a kind of fancy looking place made of some white stone and these pink awnings, hanging over wide display windows that were currently covered by large red curtains. The sign directly above the store’s locked shutter, a pink curtain behind it concealing the store’s interior from view, designated the place “Kintoria’s Secret~” in cursive pink letters on a white background.

 _I really hope that store isn’t what I think it is,_ I thought as Akiba headed over to the storefront and tried his key on its lock. When it didn’t work, he shrugged and headed off to try one of the other doors, which pretty much acted as a cue for the rest of us to start investigating the rest of the plaza, everybody just kind of splitting off to check out each of the storefronts in little groups, except for Nina, who decided to head for the fountain for some reason.

 _What’s she up to?_ I thought, hanging back and watching her as she walked over to the fountain, took off her gloves, and dipped her hand in the-

”Nina, no!” I shouted, running over to the hunter as she drank the liquid in her palm. She stiffened, frowning at me as a line of red dripped from her lips.

“Oh?” She cocked her head, looking confused that I was concerned about her _ingesting a potentially deadly liquid like an idiot._ “Did you need something, Atsuko?” _...Are all foreigners insane or have I just met some really weird ones?_

“A-Are you kidding me? Why are you drinking from that fountain!?” I...very calmly asked instead of shrieking in panic.

“What the hell is going on here?!” I did jump a bit though when Chinatsu ran up behind me, looking just as worried as I felt.

“Oh, hello Chinatsu. Well, Atsuko appears to have taken exception to me drinking from this fountain.”

“...Why the fuck would you do that?!” Chinatsu very logically asked.

“To check if it is poisoned,” Nina replied. “After all, it’s best to check these things.”

“And what if was poisoned?” Chinatsu questioned, her eyes narrowed in anger and worry.

“Oh, there is no need to worry about that. I am rather resistant to poisons, to the point that a great many fatal ones would only kill me in truly large amounts,” Nina stated with her usual smile, taking a red handkerchief out of her pants pocket to dry off her hands. “From what I can tell, the liquid within the fountain is not poisoned. Unless Kinkuma added in something that is odorless and tasteless, I suppose.”

“...Are you fucking...Right, Tadashi!” Chinatsu suddenly barked, looking over at the green-haired apothecary, who was staring back at us with obvious concern. “Can you come over here a sec? Nina might’ve poisoned herself.”

“What?!” 

“Natsu, there is no need to worry,” Nina said, frowning up at Chinatsu. “As I said, I-”

“Yeah, no, I want a professional opinion on this shit,” Chinatsu interrupted her, before frowning and snatching Nina’s handkerchief from her hand. “You’ve got something on your face.”

Nina sighed. “Natsu, I can-” Only to stiffen as Chinatsu, quite gently, brought the cloth up to her lips and dabbed at the liquid that had dripped down to her chin.

“There we go. Wouldn’t want you to stain your suit, yeah?” Chinatsu grinned at Nina, handing back her handkerchief. Nina took it, still staring at Chinatsu with an odd expression, and pocketed it again. _Huh. Is she blushing?_

“What's this I heard about a poisoning?” Tadashi asked as he walked up to us, frowning at Nina. “Hm. Your face does appear somewhat pink-”

“It is not important,” Nina immediately responded, looking away from us to stare at the fountain again.

Chinatsu sighed, frowning down at Tadashi. “So, what’s the verdict, doc?”

“I'm an apothecary, not exactly a doctor. As far as poisoning goes though…” Tadashi walked up to the fountain, leaning down over the liquid. He pulled down his surgical mask a little bit, baring his nose, and sniffed at the liquid, before fixing his mask again and looking up at Chinatsu with a clearly amused expression. "There's nothing to worry about here. This is just water with a red dye in it.”

“Really?” Nina looked up at Tadashi with a frown. _Don’t sound so disappointed…_ “It is not poisoned at all?”

“Not at all. I will say though, you shouldn’t be drinking dyed water anyway. Some dyes can be toxic,” he explained, glancing down at the water again. “Though I doubt Kinirokuma would add anything particularly dangerous to any part of our water supply. He seems fairly set on having us murder each other instead.”

“So...she’s safe?” I asked, glancing at Nina-”What are you doing now?”

Nina glanced back at me, in the middle of taking off her jacket. She was wearing a white blouse with white buttons underneath it, and she shrugged as she folded up her jacket, handing it to a rather bemused looking Chinatsu before rolling up her sleeves and reaching into the fountain’s basin. A second later, she pulled out a dripping treasure chest. 

“Here we are. I believe this is one of treasures Kinirokuma was referring to earlier,” Nina said, taking out her handkerchief again and starting to dry off her hands. She frowned, grimacing at how the dyed water dripped down her arms. _Eugh. It looks like her hands are covered in blood…_ “Hm. I might need something bigger to wipe this all off...Chinatsu, would you please hold onto my jacket for a little while longer?”

“Eh, no problem. There’s probably gonna be something around here you can use,” Chinatsu noted. Nina nodded her thanks, then turned to me.

“Would you please try opening this chest?” _Eh?_ “My hands are still quite wet and Chinatsu is holding my jacket. I suppose Tadashi could try too, but you are closer.” 

“...Yeah, alright. It's not like I’ve been able to do anything else here,” I muttered, taking out my key and trying it on the chest. Which didn’t work in the slightest, since my key didn’t even fit in the lock.

“Hm. A shame. Well, thank you for your time and your concern, that will be all,” Nina said, turning away from me and towards Tadashi. “So, shall you try next?” _Oh, guess I’m getting ignored now._

I sighed, and waved bye to Chinatsu, who gave me a little grin in reply, before heading for the closest storefront, a pale beige-ish building with blue, watery patterns painted along its walls. The shutter to this building had been raised up already, revealing a single wooden door with a sign resembling a steaming pool of water set right above it. _And of course the door is made of mahogany..._

I grimaced, trying to ignore my ire at the wood as I opened the door up to a little lobby, which was already occupied by Miyabi and Kiru, who were both exploring the room, clearly looking for one of the “treasure chests” by the blue-cushioned couches that were set up in squares on opposite sides of the carpeted room, along with some coffee tables. In addition, directly opposite the entrance was a raised, wooden desk, set in between two more doors, marked male on the left and female on the right. _Oh, it’s a bathhouse._

“Ah, Atsuko,” Miyabi spoke up as she noticed me, looking up from behind one of the couches. “Quite the cozy little place I seem to have opened up, isn’t it?”

“Oh, so this is what your key was for?” I asked, looking around the lobby. _It does look pretty cozy. Cozier than the horrorshow outside at least._

“Indeed. It may not be a fancy treasure, but it is nice to have access to a bathhouse. Particularly one with a sauna as well.” She grinned, looking quite proud of herself. “It has been quite a while since I’ve been able to visit a pleasant little place like this. I certainly plan to take advantage of its presence as soon as possible to deal with some of the tension I’ve been feeling.”

 _...She’s just talking about relaxing in the water, don’t make it weird._ “Ah, a sauna?” I asked, trying not to picture how Miyabi would be…”taking advantage” of the bathhouse.

“Oh, yes. I found a brochure explaining this place’s various amenities,” Miyabi replied, picking up the brochure in question off of one of the coffee tables before handing it to me. It had a quick explanation of the facilities in this place, apparently including some extra baths at different temperatures and a sauna. 

“Huh. Sounds like a nice place,” I noted, setting the brochure back down.

“I guess. Just, uh, be careful when you go in,” Kiru spoke up, looking a bit flustered as he looked away from the shelves lining the walls. “This place seems to be, um...co-ed, so…” _Ah. Well. That’s…a thing._

“Oh, also, make sure to bring a towel if you decide to use the sauna,” he abruptly said, looking a lot more serious. “You’ll want to set it underneath you before you sit, since the wood in there gets quite hot.”

“Huh. I didn’t actually know that. I've never gone in a sauna,” I replied, shrugging. “Thanks for telling me.”

“Ah, no problem. I-I try to go to saunas when I have the time, lots of health benefits in addition to being relaxing, and I often see people forget that detail. It...is rarely pleasant for them. So it became a bit of a habit of mine to remind people about it,” he explained, blushing a bit as he trailed off, scratching the back of his head.

“Heh. Thank you for the reminder. Burns are never fun, and pressing your bare skin to heated wood can be...painful, to say the least,” Miyabi noted, smiling at Kiru, who seemed even more flustered by the attention, before frowning as she glanced at the desk near the doors. “Ah, one moment.” 

“What’s up?” I asked, following Miyabi as she crouched down by the desk.

“I think I saw-Oh, yep, there’s something here,” she said, reaching under the desk and grabbing a small treasure chest, identical to the one we found in the fountain, before setting it up on top of the desk. “Ah, this must be one of the chests Kinkuma mentioned.”

“Huh. Oh, yeah, that reminds me. Nina actually found one of those in the fountain outside,” I explained, pointing a thumb over my shoulder. “My key didn’t work on it though.”

“Well, would you like to try your luck on this one?” Miyabi asked, glancing between me and Kiru. “We already know my key opened up this section of the plaza, so I doubt it’ll work on any of the chests.”

“Ah, sure. Nothing to lose, I guess,” I mumbled, heading over to the chest and trying my key on it. This time it actually fit in the lock, but refused to move at all. _Great, another failure._ “Bleh. Better luck next time…”

“Well, at least you’re narrowing down the options,” Kiru noted as he walked up to the chest and inserted his key. “Sooner or later, you’ll find something-” *Click*.

Kiru paused, staring down at the chest with a bemused expression. “...Huh.” He twisted the key, and the chest’s lid popped open easily. “Wow, I didn’t expect it to work so soon-...”

As Kiru trailed off, both Miyabi and I peeked over his shoulders to see what was in the chest. _...Wow. I’m glad my key didn't open this one._

Kiru slowly lifted his “reward” out of the chest, staring incredulously at the very skimpy, strapless garment in his hands. It looked like some kind of leotard or teddy, pitch-black with red trim, a matching pair of bunny ears, black stockings, and gloves bringing the whole ensemble together in one very clear outfit. Namely, a bunny-girl costume.

Beside me, I could hear Miyabi snort, the seamstress immediately clamping a hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles as we glanced at her. She turned away, very clearly trying to hold back her laughter at Kiru’s completely baffled expression, the surgeon slowly returning his incredulous gaze to the outfit.

“...What?” Kiru finally manage to squeak a question, his face completely red.

“A-Ahem.” Miyabi cleared her throat, clearly trying to keep herself from laughing again. “W-Well, I am sure the, er, outfit will look quite lovely on you, Kiru.” She grinned, eyes alight with mirth. “Though, ahem, if it doesn’t fit you, I could resize it.”

“...Thank you for the offer,” Kiru mumbled setting the garment back down in the chest, before glancing at me. “I don’t suppose-”

“I don’t want it, and I’m not trading for it,” I immediately replied.

Kiru sighed, grimacing. “Why did I have to get the chest with the fetishwear? And why does it have to be so...skimpy??”

“To look sexy, I suppose,” Miyabi spoke up, still sounding amused at Kiru’s obvious embarrassment. “I’m sure it would frame your body quite nicely-”

“No, no, I'm not wearing this,” he immediately responded, closing the chest with a snap. “I-It wouldn’t even fit! It would be far too tight-...p-perhaps we should stop talking about this…”

“Well, Miyabi did offer to resize it,” I pointed out, grinning at Kiru’s incredulous expression. “You’ll probably look good anyway. And there are ways to, well, hide your stuff down south if you’re worried about that.”

“...Th-The, um, offer is appreciated, but no, thank you.” Kiru sighed, frowning at the chest. “Well, I suppose someone might want it? Maybe I can trade-”

“HEY!” We all stiffened as an irritated and far too grating voice sounded out again. “The hell are you doing?!”

“Eep!” Kiru squeaked, promptly hiding behind me. _...Well, okay then._

“...Did you just squeak?” Kinkuma asked, before shaking his head. “Wait, that’s not important. What’s important is that you’re trying to abandon the gift you won!”

“W-What? I-I, I just...i-i-it’s not like it’s anything I’m ever going to use-” Kiru tried to explain, only to squeak again when Kinkuma pointed directly at him.

“I don’t care! You won it, you keep it!” Kinkuma retorted, glaring at Kiru, before grinning. “Besides, you never know when you might find a cute boytoy to spread your legs for~. Perhaps like that interesting young man at the Takami clinic?” 

Kiru went white. “...H-How…”

Kinkuma’s grin seemed to stretch. “Haven’t you dumbasses figure it out yet? I know everything. Every sordid little detail of your criminal dealings, everything about who you are, what you want, who you _care about_. You’d do best to remember that. Now, why don’t you take your prize and go? You’re starting to bore me.”

“...” Kiru opened his mouth, looking like he wanted to say something, but couldn’t get it out. He glanced at me and Miyabi, before turning, grabbing the chest, and walking out of the bathhouse, visibly shaking as he hurried out. 

“That was uncalled for,” Miyabi muttered, frowning down at Kinkuma, her shaking hands clenched into fists.

“Oh, true,” Kinkuma said, smirking up at her. “You’re more the type to be spreading your legs for handsome guys, aren’t you?”

Miyabi’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you here?”

“Hmph. Y’know, it’s no fun when you don’t react. Maybe I should kill someone in front of you again. You seem to be much less confrontational then.” He glanced at me. “You wanna volunteer, Kitten?”

“...Kiru already left. You can go,” I replied, trying to keep my voice from wavering. I didn’t succeed.

“Heh. You think I was here for him? No, no, I just had to come running when I found out my favorite criminal kitty cat managed to find the bathhouse. Since I already got a nice view earlier, why don’t you and I get a little...further acquainted? I could wash your fur~”

A wave a pure disgust hit me as I took a step back from him. Miyabi stepped in front of me, glaring down at Kinkuma in visible rage. “Leave.”

“Heh. Not until I get an answer from-” “I’d sooner shove one of those knives in my throat,” I bit out, my whole body tense. _What the hell is wrong with this creep?_

“Hm. Something else to shoot for, I suppose,” he said, grinning gleefully. “Anyway, offer’s always on the table if you wanna change your mind, Kitten. Well, as long as you’re alive, I guess. Ta ta~.” 

I glared at the vicious bastard as he headed out of the bathhouse, whistling a jaunty tune. “Fucking creep…”

Miyabi huffed, grimacing. “He certainly is an unpleasant creature. Are you okay?” _Eh?_

I blinked, looking up at Miyabi’s worried face. “O-Oh, um, yeah, I’m fine,” I mumbled, leaning against the desk. “He’s just...gross. Really gross.”

“That he is. Hm. I should talk with Kiru later, make sure he’s okay too,” she muttered as she adjusted her glasses. “Well, now that the golden irritant is gone, perhaps we should head to the baths together?” _...Wait, what._

“Uh...head to the baths? Together?” I repeated, trying to adjust to the sudden topic change. _Okay, wait, no, I can’t just switch from creeped out to...Brain no, stop picturing Miyabi in the bath._

“Well, I certainly don’t want to leave you alone right now. Besides, two people investigating is better than one, right?” _Oh. Ohhh, that makes much more sense._

“Sure, yeah, yes. Let’s...do that.” Miyabi raised an eyebrow at me, and I grinned sheepishly back. “So. You first?”

“...Are you sure you’re okay?”

“...I’ll get back to you on that.”

\----:----

And so, Miyabi and I headed through the door on the right of lobby’s desk, into a changing room full of cubbies and benches on each side of the room, a basket full of towels set down against the far right wall.

“So, here’s the women’s changing room. Honestly, I’m surprised Kinkuma hasn’t set up any cameras in here,” Miyabi said as she looked around the room.

“Well, least we have some small mercies,” I muttered. “If anything’s surprising, it’s the fact that he didn’t just have one changing room for everyone.”

“Heh. Well, the view would’ve been nice,” Miyabi replied with a grin. “Granted, the view still will be nice, but with a little less variety.” _...Okay then._

“R-Right. Yeah, uh, so, baths,” I quite intelligently said, heading into the main bath area at a not at all hurried pace. And then I actually saw the baths. _How the fuck...?_

Instead of a small, cozy bath I had expected in here, the large room was dominated by a grandiose bath that seemed big enough to comfortably fit around a hundred people. Large stone pillars, decorated with gold leaf and stretching up high to the vaulted ceiling, surrounded the main bath, and more marble statues were set up across the blue, mosaic-covered walls, a few in little alcoves. Of course, they were also “decorated” with graffiti and Kinkuma heads, though it was blue instead of red this time. In the bath itself, a series of light fixtures could be seen illuminating the water.

There we a few other baths set around the room, much smaller pools of water taking up the corners with signs to designate what temperature they were being kept at. There was also another door set up on the right side of the room, a sign designating it as the sauna.

“Why is this place so big?” I muttered, taking in the ridiculously huge room. Everything from the baths to the pillars seemed to scream extravagance, and I grimaced as I looked up, greeted by the sight of a truly atrocious fresco painted up on the ceiling. It couldn’t seem to decide if it wanted to follow western or eastern styles, twisted angels and cherubs mixing in with oni and yokai, most of them displaying the same ugly, sharp-toothed half-grin Kinkuma had. _They look like they’re leering down at the bath…_

“Hmph. Kinkuma does seem to prefer making everything as ostentatious as he can,” Miyabi noted, frowning as she stared up the ceiling. “I suppose it was too much to ask for a nice, simple bathhouse. At the very least he could’ve tried to make sure the aesthetics matched each other.” She sighed, brushing a strand of hair back as she lowered her gaze and glared at the water. “You can’t just combine entirely different styles and hope they mesh well. It takes work, dammit!”

“Uh...well, I kind of doubt Kinkuma actually cares about, uh, aesthetics. You saw how he decorates these statues, right?”

“Yes, yes, I know. Sorry, I just… _really_ dislike seeing such a blatant clash in styles. Sure, the previous area we were trapped in was incredibly gaudy, but at least he kept his terrible tastes contained in each room instead of-! Ugh…” Miyabi clasped her hands together and took a deep breath. “Right. Okay. Let’s try searching this area before I start ranting over that idiot’s sense of interior design.”

With that said, Miyabi promptly headed towards the left side of the room, an irritated frown on her face. I decided discretion was the better part of valor in this situation, and headed in the opposite direction, towards the sauna.

As I walked, I made sure to keep an eye out for any more treasure chests. _A huge room like this is going to be a pain to search. Well, at least Kinkuma didn’t hide any in the water. Those lights are kind of handy._ I paused by one of the statues set in an alcove, glancing up at the...rather well carved body completely ruined by Kinkuma’s leering gaze. _Yeesh. That bastard ruins everything he gets his hands on, huh? You’d probably look a lot better without that psycho’s head hiding your face._

I sighed in sympathy for the poor statue, before noticing something hidden by her legs. _Oh, hey, that’s convenient. Thanks lady-statue._ I crouched down and grabbed the large chest from out behind her legs. Her really way too detailed legs. _Okay, no, focus on the heavy chest, not the-no, not her chest. Dammit brain…_

Pulling the treasure chest out from behind the way too detailed statue, I set it down on the ground. _Hm. Might as well try._ I took out my key again, stuck it in the lock, and easily turned it, a little click sounding out as the chest opened up. _Huh. Didn’t think that’d actually work. ...Please don’t let this ‘reward’ be like Kiru’s._

Taking a deep breath to steel myself, I opened up the chest. “...Eh?” 

Inside the chest, on top of some kind of velvet fabric, was a book with a golden cover emblazoned with the title “The Truth of Gold” in bright red. 

\----♥----

 **Kinirokuma Theater:** ♥

_Kinkuma sits on a stage, two spotlights illuminating him as he stares out into an empty audience. Beside him is a large vase, white with red serpents patterned on it. Numerous bright red roses sprout out of the vase’s top._

“Do you know what romance means? Something about love, right? Wrong! Romance actually derives from the Latin word romant, which basically means ‘roman-like’. Then French stole the word, like languages tend to do, and declared that it clearly referred to France! But then some sneaky writers started using it to refer to chivalrous heroes and dangerous adventures, only for some younger writers to ambush them in an alley and switch the meaning to lovey dovey crap. It’s funny how that works, isn’t it? Personally, I say we go back to those simpler times of chivalry and swashbuckling adventure! Sure, things will be worse for some people, but at least we’ll get to pretend things are better than the crappy modern day we’re stuck with.”

_Curtains close._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So, next section of the Golden Palace has been opened. Here's hoping nothing bad happens there.
> 
> Indismile: I'd say akiba just went to kintoria’s because it was the closest, but well
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading. Next time, Atsuko finds out more about Kinkuma and the Golden Palace.
> 
> Edit: Just changed a little thing at the end so the opening of the next chapter flows better. We've been working on revisions and other stuff, but we'll get back to this story. Hiatus will probably go on a bit longer though.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Alrighty, so, this is me and my co-author's first story on this site. Hope you liked it, and want to see more. Feel free to leave feedback.
> 
> IndiSmile: I'm just glad we got to work on something together.
> 
> Thanks again, and keep an eye out. There's more to come.


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